The Darkness of Chaos
by Black Mantle
Summary: [SatAM + Shadow + Rouge] Shadow comes to the Great Forest to challenge Sonic; but things soon go very wrong, and Shadow is tossed into the mix. (Complete)
1. Preface

**The Darkness of Chaos**

**A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction by Black Mantle**

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Preface**_

December 26, 2002

Here I am again, writing another fan-fiction from the deep recesses of my mind, this one from another classic video game series, Sonic the Hedgehog.

Although Sonic dates back to the early nineties, I really only became a fan in recent years. You see, in the video game golden years of the Genesis and the Super NES, I was a Nintendo fan; so I back then, I had an almost fan-boyish detestment of Sega's new mascot, and the attack ads they put out against my favourite video game supplier. I was young and so infantile back then.

Fast forward a few years and I had missed both the Genesis and the Saturn, though in my opinion, missing the later was not a big deal. However, after a brief absence from video games between '96 and '99, I regained my interest in them; and in the short span of a year got a PSX, N64, GBC, and (of course) a DreamCast, the most underrated video game system ever released.

Recently, I've added a PS2 (a piece of junk in my opinion as the only game worth having is _Final Fantasy X_), GBA, and a GameCube. Naturally, I have both Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Sonic Mega Collection (which almost makes up for my missing the Genesis), as well as Sonic Advance.

I have come to be a Sonic fan despite my original gagging at Sega, but even in the old days I had to admit I liked the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon on ABC, usually referred to as "SatAM". It's too bad that I didn't tape any episodes of it; today I religiously record episodes of my favourite shows--I currently have every episode of M*A*S*H on tape except for the two seasons that are on DVD.

To wrap this up, I have written this story that mixes some of the Sonic Adventure characters (Shadow and later Rogue, from SA2) into the SatAM universe. I have plans to extend this to several Acts and even have the first 4 laid out in my head right now, so if it seems short, there should be more coming soon.

**Black Mantle**

December 29, 2002

I'll be finishing the first Act of "The Darkness of Chaos" and posting it today. I would like to thank those who have posted reviews of my story already; I especially want to thank and thank SonicFan#1, whomever you are or are. ;-)

To Toni, yes, Shadow and Sally will meet; as far as making them a couple, I am making no comment on that at this point. I already have plans for how their relationship is going to develop. With regards to Geoffrey, I found I had a place for him; although, I will admit that I have not read many of the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, so my knowledge of him is very limited. I am solely going on the following: he was a former guard who is very protective of Sally, and he doesn't like Sonic one bit. If anyone asks about other characters like Rotor (who got a bit part), Antoine, Hershey, Dulcy, etc… don't ask; if I feel I have a use for them, they'll show up, otherwise they may just as well have never existed.

Penultimate-lifeform has commented on my strange labelling system of Acts and Chapters. For those who haven't figured it out, the story is going to be a long one, so I've divided it up twice. Acts are the large segments that are further divided into Chapters. I didn't want to have it listed as one large story made up of dozens of chapters because the story does go in specific arcs, and could be seen as different episodes of a TV show, or books in a set. Take Lord of the Rings for instance, that rather hefty tale is divided into 6 books with over 20 chapters each. (Yes, it's 6 not 3, "Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "Return of the King" represent 2 books each.) As for the Preface, I could have called it "Letters from the Author", but I preferred "Preface", go figure.

Well, I hope you like the rest of this Act. I don't know when the next Act will come out, hopefully sometime in the New Year, late 2004 at the latest. Heh, heh. Just kidding, hopefully sometime in January.

**Black Mantle**

January 12, 2003

Coming at you faster than the speed of sound (heh, heh) is the second Act of "The Darkness of Chaos". I have decided to re-evaluate the rating on my story to 'R' because of this act.

And thanks, Kit Kat for the comment; it's always nice to be appreciated.

**Black Mantle**

February 17, 2003

It's been a month since the last act, so it's time for more Shadow goodness. I've already made a bit of a change to my plans, at first I had planned 4 acts in this story arc, but the 4 have now become 5. Don't worry, it just means more Shadow the Hedgehog fiction for you, though it will take a bit longer.

I would also like to thank CCC for her review. I love writing these stories, but there is a real satisfaction in knowing that people who read them enjoy them too. Not that it matters much, I'd still write this if you all thought it was crap, just to smite you; so there. >P

BTW; I've been playing Skies of Arcadia Legends, and if you have a GameCube, I would really suggest this awesome game. I have it on the DreamCast (natch) and I loved it so much, I had to get the GCN version for the extra goodies and the chance to play it again. Sure I could have just played the DC version again, but, you know…

**Black Mantle**

February 21, 2003

Here's the end of Act III, and I've received one more compliment, this time from Formerly Known As, who he or she was formerly known as is anybody's guess.

Unfortunately, FanFiction.net is pissing me off again. First it's the banishment of NC-17 rated stories, along with it came a change to the filtering system to automatically focus on G to PG-13 stories, ignoring R rated stories unless you specify that you want them. Now they've changed the upload system so that certain tags are filtered; they filtered tags before, but now they're stripping the p tags so that you can't put style information in them, and are being replaced with common p tags.

Since my new stories are coming out all bland, I'm considering reserving some web space and putting my stories there. I haven't decided (as some of you may know), because I've had some bad dealings with them after certain unscrupulous individuals were linking directly to my content instead of going through the main pages, and my site was getting pulled.

Weither or not I go ahead with that plan, I'll still keep putting them up on FanFiction.net and FanDomination.net, but I want full control over the formatting of my stories. I'll let you know in the future if I get any such web space.

**Black Mantle**

March 5, 2003

Thanks NocturnalWolf for the review, but I was going to continue this story with or without your threats, so calm down.

It looks like FanDomination.net is back from the grave, but not for long if they don't get more donations. They may have to go with some form of advertising, which may not be all bad, but ad-free is always better than ad-overloaded. For those who weren't aware, FD was undergoing an upgrade and while you could upload new stories, editing or uploading new chapters to existing stories wasn't possible.

**Black Mantle**

March 7, 2003

Two more reviews; sweet! Thanks Craig and Ramenth; I'm flattered you think this would be a good enough story to send to Sega (barring the fact that I kill off Sonic in Act 1).

Actually, this brings up an interesting point that relates to a previous review I got. Sega doesn't accept fan submitted suggestions; in fact, almost no video game company does. This is because of the legal problems that arise. If you give them a suggestion and they use it, do they have to pay you royalties? And what if they had already come up with the idea that you suggested, how do they prove that it was theirs and not yours?

Someone (Toni) had suggested that I get Shadow and Sally together. I have already answered that particular situation, but I think I need a full explanation as to how I handle suggestions:

1. If you send in a suggestion and I use it, I will give credit for where the idea came from. Since this is not-for-profit, I don't think there's going to be any real legal or monetary circumstances for using your ideas; besides, you submitted it for the purpose of me using it.

2. If you submit an idea that I already came up with, I will give no credit for it; since you didn't come up with it, I did. Since I don't post info on where I'm taking my stories, (I like keeping it a surprise as best I can) I'm the only one who actually knows where the idea came from; so you'll just have to take my word for it on whose idea it was. This is exactly what companies like Sega are trying to avoid.

Please feel free to send in suggestions, I am always glad to listen to what you think; just remember that this is my story, and I'm writing what I want to write. Well, that enough of that little rant.

On a Sonic related note:

Just the other day I got a rather rude, albeit welcome surprise; Sonic Advance 2 is coming out next week! After dragging its heels on a date, THQ finally gave a North American date for this game. I don't know when they actually announced it, but I heard about it while trolling GameFAQs and confirmed it at EB. I am half considering adding Cream and Cheese in my fic; but I really have no place for them. At this point, they've got about as much chance of appearing as either Big the Cat or Omochao, like that's going to happen.

So on with the story…

Act IV is now being posted, hopefully to BOTH FanFiction.net and FanDomination.net, though the later seems to be acting up again. For the first time, I am using a character while NOT keeping them in character. Read the blurb on Act IV for a better description.

Well, that's all I have to say for now; so check out the new Act, the first chapter of which will be up shortly.

**Black Mantle**

March 13, 2003

Dear NocturnalWolf:

The whole point of the cliffhanger is that it is all part of my evil plot for world domination. As this story goes on, I shall end each part with progressively worse cliff hangers that will leave you thirsting for more; until finally, all those reading this story will be my unwitting slaves! And then I will lead my army of fan-fic-induced zombies to total world domination! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

For the rest of you who couldn't care about the mad ranting of a total looney, I am right now writing Act V, which will be the last act of this story. Although it will be the end, I have plans for a follow-up. Then again, I had plans for a follow-up to "The Last Standing", but nothing came of it.

On a semi-related note, I picked up Sonic Advance 2 yesterday, and the game rocks as much as the first one; but there are a few changes I want to point out. First, boss battles are pulled out and are treated as an area of their own. Also, the boss fights are running battles, meaning you are chasing after Robotnik/Eggman along a straightaway, and you have to avoid his attacks while getting close enough to attack him yourself. Another change is the way you continue. In the original, if you fail in the 2nd zone, you could continue from there; in Sonic Advance 2, if you fail to complete Zone 2 or the Boss Battle, you have to go back to Zone 1. And get this, you have to unlock the Tiny Chao Garden, is that a bummer or what?

**Black Mantle**

March 20, 2003

I thought I'd give a quick update on the progress of Act V.

Act V is moving along, and it's going to be a doozy, weighing in at 7 chapters, the longest act so far. Three of the chapters are finished, another 2 are done but I plan to go back and redo them. Were it not for school and work, I'd be finished and ready to post by the end of the weekend, but I plan to start before the end of the month, April 1st at the latest.

Now it's up to you to decide; am I telling you the truth, or am I using the excuse of school and work to explain my slacking off? Or maybe it's actually finished and ready to go right now, and I'm holding back solely to drive all of you nuts. (read: NocturnalWolf)

In case you haven't heard, there's been a bit of a debacle going on at DiC. FYI, DiC is the company that created the various American Sonic cartoons, including SatAM. They were planning to release more of the episodes on DVD in conjunction with a company called UAV Entertainment, but Sega moved in to quash the deal. My guess is that as part of it's plan to really boost Sonic's image in the upcoming 12 months, Sega wanted to downplay the Americanized versions of Sonic in favour of the games' version. Although I can certainly understand this, I'm disappointed nonetheless.

**Black Mantle**

March 23, 2003

The first draft of Act V is complete. I still have to review the whole thing to correct spelling and grammar mistakes, although there is almost always some left undiscovered. This thing is almost 60,000 words for crying out loud; Hell, I just found an error way back in Act I! After reviewing, I also have to convert it to HTML for posting, but that usually doesn't take too long, so I should be posting the first chapter tomorrow.

And now just to annoy you and make things generally irritating for you, I am posting the title to Act V, enjoy.

**Black Mantle**

March 24, 2003

As promised, here's chapter 1, so HEADS UP!

**Black Mantle**

March 30, 2003

As the saying goes: All good things must come to an end. And so here is the last chapter of _The Darkness of Chaos_. It been quite a few months for me, and I hope you all enjoyed it; unless you got frightened off by the size of the whole thing. Be sure to let me know what you thought of my lengthy tome.

For those who liked it, I am planning a follow up, but I am going in hiatus for a little while to take a break; actually, I'm bogged down with schoolwork at the moment. But if I do get around to writing more, expect it in the summer.

**Black Mantle**

June 1, 2003

It's been two months since I finished _The Darkness of Chaos_, so I figured I'd give a brief update on the sequel. First, I am currently writing it, but it's slow going with full time work and all. Second, I'm hoping to have the first part done by the end of June or July; I'm no where near finished the first act, but already it's gearing up to be longer than any of the acts in DoC. So I hope you'll bear with me until I release the first chapter of _After the Darkness_.

I've also got a few more reviews, making it the story with the most reviews; although there's a repeat review and NocturnalWolf left 3 of them, so that knocks it to a tie with The Last Standing at 11 unique reviews. It would seem that someone else wishes me to put Shadow and Sally together; too bad, I've already got Shadow with Rouge, and Bunnie trying to muzzle her way in as is, but it has given me a few interesting ideas.

So anyway, I'm hoping that I can get some good writing time over the next month, but with work and my recently revived addition to Pokémon, it's not going to be easy. Right now I'm knee deep in Sapphire (have barely touched Ruby yet) and almost ready to challenge the Elite Four; but if those blasted Regi-pokémon don't cut me some slack, I'm going to go Shark this damn thing for a bunch of Master Balls and teach those uptight, we-ain't-going-in-your-puny-Ultra-Balls-no-matter-how-much-damage-or-status-ailments-you-inflict-on-us bastards once and for all!

**Black Mantle**


	2. ACT I: AN UNWELCOME HERO

**Act I: An Unwelcome Hero**

**A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction by Black Mantle**

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Imagine if you will, that the only thing you knew was that there was someone out there like you, and that you didn't like them, that you wanted to beat them at anything and everything, that your intense dislike of that person was growing into full-blown hatred.

Then imagine that circumstances changed, and soon, you would have no choice but to forget your hatred, and would have to face life without the only thing you knew, or worse, becoming that which you despised.

For in the troubled land of Mobius, a stranger named "Shadow" has come to this land and would face that very scenario.

Just a quick note on Shadow: Although he is based on Shadow from Sonic Adventure 2 for the DreamCast and GameCube (SA2:Battle), there are a few changes. In the games, his Chaos Control power was active when he held a Chaos Emerald; but here, a Chaos Emerald awakened the Chaos Control and it is now powered by Power Rings. At this point, no one knew what Chaos Emeralds were except for the Guardians of the Master Emerald, like Knuckles the Echidna. I am taking some liberties as to the full power of the Chaos Control.

Also, in place of his hover shoes, Shadow possesses what is called a "phase run" power. He can't run as fast as Sonic on his feet, but his phase run acts like a series of teleportations. With each step, Shadow transports to a point several metres in front of him. This has a few advantages, such as he's invisible for the most part, except on "phase in". Also, he can instantaneously change speed or direction, unlike Sonic who would have to speed up, slow down, or turn. However, if he overshoots the mark or phases in mid-air, he can't maintain it and falls back to normal speed. So jumping over a large expanse or skipping over water is out of the question; for that, he needs the Chaos Control. 

If you have trouble picturing it, think of an anime ninja, preferably a cartoony one, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. All you would see is the ninja on one rooftop, then a blur, and then they're on the other rooftop. The phase run works like that, only you wouldn't see the blur in the middle, and Shadow only remains in one spot for a fraction of a second, making him very hard to see. Actually, pick a fight scene from Dragonball Z, and you should have it.

One last thing, Shadow's history is also different. In the games, he was created by Dr. Eggman/Robotnik's grandfather, Dr. Gerald Robotnik. The Shadow in this story has a different history, which I will bring up in a later act.


	3. Chapter 1: Who are you?

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 1: Who are you?**_

Through the Great Forest, a blue streak zig-zagged its way between the mighty trees. To those who looked hard, also visible was a phantom shape following tightly behind, a dark whisper that appeared and disappeared before it could be identified. The black held tight to the blue, keeping up with it, passing it, and falling behind it again.

* * *

"I've been hearing stories about you, or is there another blue hedgehog roaming these parts?"

Sonic turned towards the voice that called to him. "I'm the only one I've ever known."

Behind him, a figure remained partially concealed in the shadows. It spoke, almost sarcastically, "They say you're the fastest one in these woods, if not the whole world."

Sonic replied, not liking the tone, and responded in a tough guy voice. "I've heard such things said about me."

The figure stepped out of the darkness. Sonic looked at the stranger, which looked like a twisted mirror of himself. His fur was the darkest black he had ever seen, with strokes of red and a white tuft on his chest. His eyes locked onto Sonic, each a burning red disc that resembled the fires of hell. The only pleasant thing about him was the large gold necklace he wore, with an oversized green gemstone set in the middle.

"I'd like to test those stories."

* * *

The blue blur continued to storm through the forest, unable to lose the dark phantom leaping behind him. Running between trees and over rocks, not trying to shake the darkness, but simply trying to outrun it.

* * *

"Well, this might be interesting. Mr.?" 

"I am known as 'Shadow'." 

Sonic looked around; off in the distance he could see a small creek in a clearing of the forest below him. On the other side was a large red rock with a single ring floating above it.

"All right, how about this, 'Shadow'. The first one to reach that river and pick up that ring on the big red rock over by the creek is the winner."

Shadow surveyed the land and pointed. "That ring?"

"That one."

"Sounds good to me."

Sonic picked up a small rock. "When this hits the ground, we go."

"Right."

Sonic held the rock, thinking for a minute. "So is this just for bragging rights?"

"What are you babbling about?"

"Why don't we put something on the outcome." Sonic took notice of the ornate necklace Shadow was wearing with the large green gem in the middle. "Perhaps you might like to put your jewellery where your mouth is."

Shadow seemed quite offended by Sonic's suggestion. "Only if you're putting your head on the block."

"Alright, alright; pride it is."

* * *

The two had reached the river and were following it towards the large rock and the ring; only they were on the wrong side, both looking for a way over without slowing down too much. Sonic had considered simply trying to run across and hope that his speed would give him the force to skip on the surface, or to find a narrow part and try jumping over.

Shadow was thinking the same thing, but he knew that the way his phase run worked, he would not be able to simply skip over the water. Instead, once they had reached a narrow part, he went for it.

Sonic continued to look for a better place to cross, only to see Shadow on the other side of the river. Shadow was somewhat behind now, but he had already managed to pass the watery obstacle, giving him a decided edge.

{How'd he get over there already? I didn't even see him cross.}

With little option, Sonic continued on as fast as he could, but he knew he'd have to cross at some point. The best way would be to head straight for the rock, though this would mean running diagonally across the river, thus running over more water than Sonic wanted. He had to time it right, if he kept going straight and tried to cross right where the ring was, his path would be longer, and he'd have trouble making the sharp turn. If he went too early, then he'd have to go over nothing but water, which would likely slow him down and possibly stop him dead in his tracks. He had to chance it.

Turning to his left, Sonic tried to skip over the water towards the rock. Along the left bank, Shadow could see the blue hedgehog's manoeuvre, but simply kept going, trying to get to the ring first, hoping that Sonic didn't have the momentum to make it all the way and would fall in the water.

Sonic knew he was slowing down; his lead over the black hedgehog was growing shorter. Giving it all he had, he pressed on, trying to reach the rock first. He was only a few seconds away from it, as was Shadow.

3…

2…

1…

Sonic reached the rock and with his foot on solid ground, leapt up to the top of the rock and the ring. Just a few metres away, Shadow had performed his final phase and had locked on to the ring.

The blue streak and the black vapour crossed paths on the rock.

* * *

"Looks like you've got some lead in your boots, Faker. I wouldn't quit your day job if I were you." Sonic wouldn't dare let Shadow forget that he lost, even though it was by the slimmest of margin.

"I'll admit you're fast, but don't think that this is the end of it."

"Oh really. You know, if you ditched all that weight around your neck, you might have a shot."

Shadow looked at the decorative gold brace on his shoulders with the large green stone in it, and scowled at the blue speed demon. "That's a precious heirloom, how dare you suggest…"

"Just chill. Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I've got places to be."

"Oh really, or are you too scared to give me a rematch?"

"Another time, when you've improved. Ta ta." Sonic raced off into the distance.

Shadow was about to follow when he saw Sonic holding up the ring. At first it looked like the blue jerk was showing off, but instead, he saw him take off even faster than before.

"What the…"

* * *

Shadow raced around for a few minutes, hoping to locate Sonic again. He was getting very angry and wanted to teach that braggart a lesson, not with speed, but perhaps with a good solid punch to the face. Eventually he found his way to an open field, hoping that he could survey the wide expanse and spot his rival, he stopped just a few metres shy of a passing road.

"Where is that jackass?" Shadow continued to look around, occasionally moving from where he stood to get a slightly better position, but Sonic was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey!"

Shadow looked to his left towards an irate rabbit wielding a hoe.

"Get off mah property!", she screamed in a southern accent.

"What's gotten your knickers in a bunch, little lady?"

"Those are mah carrots ya're trampling on!"

Shadow looked down, and only now saw the crafted rows of green pushing up from the ground.

"My apologies." Shadow watched where he stepped and quickly got off the manicured ground.

"Well, yah should be!" The rabbit examined him for a second. "Wait, are yah Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Shadow was about to explode at hearing the name again. "No, my name is Shadow."

"Shadow?" The teenager looked him over. "I must say it fits, sugah. Yah move just like one."

"And what is your name?"

"Ya're getting a bit fresh. It's Bunnie."

"A nice name. You live here by yourself?"

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"I'm new here, but I've been hearing that this area is not safe. Some tyrant is running things around here, or something."

"Yah mean Robotnik."

"That sounds familiar."

"Well, if he or any of his tin cans show up around here, I'll give them their forty whacks." Bunnie started to flail the hoe around violently.

"I can see that you can take care of yourself."

"Don't yah forget it."

"Well, I won't waste anymore of your time." Shadow turned to leave.

"Hey! Yah want something to drink? It's rather impolite for us to be talking for so long and for me to not offer."

"Uh, no thanks, I'm fine. I really have to be going."

"Well, see yah around."

"Take care."

Shadow walked away. It was odd really, that for some reason Sonic offended him, but he could get along with most anybody else. Sure there were some total jerks out there who got the pounding they deserved, but he hated Sonic to the core, something he couldn't quite explain. He had never really met Sonic until that morning, he only heard about him, but for some strange reason, it seemed as if he knew the blue one right from birth, and didn't like him one bit.

To be continued


	4. Chapter 2: The Quick and the Dead

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 2: The Quick and the Dead**_

Sonic returned to Knothole, though much later than he had anticipated thanks to the delay in facing down his recent challenger.

Tails was the first to meet him. "Hey Sonic, where've you been? Aunt Sally's been really angry at you."

"Sorry little buddy, but some unexpected business came up."

"What kind of business?"

"Some joker had the nerve to challenge me to a race."

"Bet you smoked him good. Huh Sonic?"

"Yeah, just another hot shot spouting his mouth off." Naturally, Sonic wouldn't dare suggest publicly that there was someone who could give him a run for his money, let alone able to actually beat him. "So where's Sal?"

"At her place, she's in a meeting with Geoffrey and they're waiting for you."

"Old sour smell, eh? Well, I'd hate to keep him waiting."

* * *

Elsewhere in the forest, Shadow had been going over the race in his mind, it was very close, his fingers only millimetres away from the ring when Sonic locked his fingers around it.

{0.02 seconds, if I could've just shaved that off, I'd have had him.}

Shadow was sitting down on a tree stump, holding a ring he had found nearby. He remembered that while holding the ring, Sonic seemed to run even faster, as he was running away. {The coward.}

Holding the ring in his hand, he started running, then engaged his phase run; for several seconds he continued his mysterious transportation from place to place, tree to tree. He then stopped and looked back.

{That was no faster than before. What in the blazes did he do with this?}

Shadow wouldn't get much time to consider it when he heard some commotion in the distance. Putting the ring away with a few others he had picked up, he sped off, triggering his phase run.

* * *

"So what's up?"

Inside the hut, Sally and Geoffrey where going over a map laid on the table.

Geoffrey was his usually polite self to the hedgehog. "About time you showed up."

"Nice to see you, too. Hey, Sally."

Geoffrey grunted under his voice.

"Sonic, we've been getting reports on Robotnik's robots a couple of miles west of here."

"So what's the scam this time?"

"It seems that they're trying to dam up a river. It feeds a lot of streams, and if blocked off will leave many people without water."

"Then I had better get going."

Sally raised her voice. "Hold it hot shot. You're not going off by yourself on this one. If there's a dam in place, we'll have to destroy it. Do you want to try that yourself?"

Sonic remembered the last incident involving him trying to demolish something of Robotnik's. "O.K. We'll let Rotor handle the heavy duty stuff."

"That's the spirit. We've already made plans, so let's go."

* * *

At the destined location, Shadow arrived and hid amongst the trees. Below him, the river was crawling with robots. Some of the robots were large with thick armour, carrying weapons; they seemed to oversee a band of smaller robot beavers working hastily on a dam.

"Well this is interesting. I suppose this is how this 'Robotnik' character got his name."

Shadow's attention shifted when he heard something coming up from behind him. Looking back through the trees, he saw a small band heading towards the dam, trying to be as quiet as possible. Not wanting to be noticed, he laid low until he could make them out.

As the approaching group reached the river, only a few trees away from Shadow, he could tell they weren't robots, but more importantly; he could identify one of them.

* * *

"Several SWATbots, and what looks like a crew of roboticized beavers." Sally turned back to the others. "I suppose if you wanted to build a dam, beavers are the way to go."

Geoffrey whispered, not wanting to give their position to the enemy. "How many are there?"

"I can see five SWATbots, and three beavers, no wait, four. They're bobbing up and down in the water, I can't count them."

"Beavers usually work in groups of five or six, so we'll assume that many. Alright, here's the plan."

Sonic didn't want to hear the plan. "I rush 'em, and you guys clean up what's left."

"That's not the plan you moron." Geoffrey looked back at Sonic, but he had already run off. "I'm going to kill that jerk."

* * *

At the dam, the five SWATbots were standing on the riverbank, watching over the beavers, making sure that they weren't disrupted, and to occasionally order them to work faster.

"Work faster, Dr. Robotnik wants this dam finished before sun down."

Sonic had snuck up behind the SWATbots. "Yeah, You know how angry he gets when things get delayed."

"Affirmative. Now work!"

The SWATbot then realized that the voice did not belong to any of his crew. It turned around in time to see Sonic push it into the drink.

"Emergency procedure: Initialize anti-Sonic attack subroutines."

The other four drew out some rifles and started to shoot at their blue target, but each shot missed as Sonic danced about.

"I bet this ain't like shooting fish in a barrel."

After dodging a few more shots, Sonic charged the robots again and pushed another into the flowing water, shorting it out like the first.

The remaining three SWATbots kept firing until one by one, Sonic pushed each of them in too.

* * *

With the soldier robots gone, Sally, Geoffrey, Rotor and the rest came out to stop the robot beavers from completing the dam. They didn't want to destroy the beavers because they really were just innocent beavers that Dr. Robotnik had roboticized, so instead they took out some electric prods and trying to scare them away. It wasn't pleasant, but it was the best they could do.

After a few shocks, they swam away.

Sally watched them until they disappeared. "One of these days we're going to defeat Robotnik, and we're going to save all the creatures he's roboticized. I wonder if they'll hate us for this."

"You can't worry yourself too much about it princess, it's the best we can do… for now."

"Thanks Geoffrey, but I still don't feel any better." Sally turned back to the others. "Rotor, get the explosives!"

* * *

"So, is this the important business that you had?"

Sonic looked behind him; near the tree line was his challenger from earlier. "Yeah, and I'm busy, so buzz off."

"Hmph. It actually looks like you've finished up."

"Don't you ever take 'no' for an answer."

"I don't believe so."

"If you want a rematch, fine, but come back later, like next year or something. I only met you today and already I've had my fill of you."

"Well, I'll just have to make you reconsider."

"Make me?"

"Well, this is a dangerous line of work you and your 'friends' are in, it would be a shame if there was an accident, or if this 'Robotnik' guy were to get lucky once in a while."

"How dare you?! You leave them alone!"

"Or you'll what?" Shadow chuckled. "I'll let you think about that for a bit, but I'll be back blue boy. And then we'll settle this once and for all."

Ducking behind the tree, Shadow disappeared into the darkness, leaving Sonic to contemplate just what the dark furred one was capable of.

Sally walked up to Sonic, followed by Geoffrey. "Who was that?"

"Some jerk I ran into earlier, named Shadow."

* * *

The dam had been destroyed, but Sally and the others were still unpleased, as there was still nothing they could do about the roboticized beavers. Rotor had been working on a 'deroboticizer', but it was far from complete. Until it was finished, they had no choice but to let them go. They couldn't take the beavers with them while they were under the control of Robotnik, and they wouldn't destroy what were otherwise innocent bystanders.

Sonic on the other hand was more out of it than the others, and Sally had noticed.

"Sonic, are you alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah Sal, everything's fine."

"No it's not fine. Something's eating you, I can tell. It was that black hedgehog, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. You'll have to go back to Knothole without me, I've got to find that jerk before he gets us all into a heap of trouble." Sonic took off, leaving Sally and the others behind.

* * *

Several miles away, Shadow found a nice tall tree and fell asleep in its branches.

* * *

Back on the ground, Sonic continued his search for his black double.

"Shadow! Where the Hell are you?!"

Sonic received no response and continued his journey. "Damn! You show up when you're not wanted, and when someone's looking for you, you're nowhere to be found."

Through the dark woods, Sonic's search was going nowhere, and it was getting even darker. If Shadow liked to hide in the shadows, then it would be impossible to locate him now. A growling in Sonic's stomach told him it was time to give up.

"I might as well go home; not going to find a decent lunch out here." 

Sonic aimed for home, but after only a few steps, he heard someone ahead of him. Taking it slow, which was most unusual for him, Sonic snuck up on whomever was ahead. Looking through a bush, Sonic saw a troop of Robotnik's SWATbots.

"What are they doing here?" Sonic skulked in the darkness, trying to determine what Robotnik's robots were doing in this area.

One of the robots spoke out in a very robotic voice. "Communication delivered. Mission accomplished successfully."

Sonic could see that the robot was simply standing at attention, obviously receiving a transmission from Dr. Robotnik.

{What communication?} Sonic tried to figure out with whom a bunch of robots would be communicating with. {They couldn't mean Shadow; then again, it would be just like that bastard to do so. Perhaps if I grabbed one of their heads, Sally could extract the info from their circuits. Even if we can't, a few destroyed robots are a plus any day.}

The robot had completed receiving Robotnik's message. "Orders received, returning to Robotropolis."

"What, you dropped by and didn't even bother to say 'hello'? I'm hurt."

The robots turned to the voice. 

"Emergency procedure: Initialize anti-Sonic attack subroutines."

"Subroutine this!"

Sonic charged the robots and managed to reach them before they could start firing. With one spin jump, he rendered one of them to scrap.

* * *

"Sonic?! What's he doing here?" Dr. Robotnik pressed a button on his console.

"Computer, open a comlink to all nearby units and order no verbal response."

"Confirmed. Link open."

"All units proceed to co-ordinates 56.32 by 91.20 and get Sonic the Hedgehog!"

* * *

Sonic had dispatched all but one of the robots, and was just about to scrap the last one as Robotnik finished giving the order. Sonic dashed into it and smashed it into a nearby tree.

"So much for them." Sonic didn't have time to congratulate himself; he heard more robots coming in the distance. "More of them? Well, I'll just have to show them some good old Knothole hospitality."

Sonic raced towards the next set of robots, rushing through the brush, he got in between the next three robots before they even saw him. Sonic immediately jumped onto the steel helmet of the one in back, and the other two turned and fired, blasting their comrade into spare parts. The blue hedgehog then propelled himself into the one on the right, then the left, knocking them both over.

Sonic stopped and quickly checked for more robots. Off in the distance from where he fought the first batch, he saw more coming at him. They had already seen him and had opened fire.

"Whoops, things are getting a little hot around here. In that case, it's time to fly."

With his speed he avoided the oncoming fire, and made a hasty retreat. He ran, keeping one eye on the path before him and one on the robots behind him; constantly shifting to put a few trees between him and the fire trying to perforate his tail. A quick look forward showed two more robots jumping out in front of him with guns blazing.

* * *

Shadow jolted from his slumber, almost falling out of the tree he had selected to retire in. He could feel it in the air, as if something had radically changed, that the world he was in wasn't the world he went to sleep in.

To be continued


	5. Chapter 3: Defeated

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 3: Defeated**_

A darkness suddenly swept over the forest, a dark shadow. Shadow had to know, he had to find out for himself, but deep down, he knew.

Like a sixth sense, Shadow locked on to the exact spot, and within a minute was there. What he saw he could not believe. On the ground was a blue mass, surrounded by two SWATbots, with more coming from behind.

He stood there, out of sight of the mechanical monsters, but close enough to get angry.

* * *

In the depths of Robotropolis, a maniacal laughing is heard.

"I've done it! I've finally destroyed that miserable blue hedgehog!"

Before him, a screen displaying a series of life signs, or lack thereof.

"SWATbots, bring me the body. Perhaps I'll mount the head on my wall, and send the rest to those foolish Freedom Fighters."

* * *

Back in the forest, Shadow's anger continued to flare.

"He was mine, I was supposed to defeat him. Not you!" His voice took on an almost demonic rumble.

Clenching his fist, he charged at the robots, his phase run making him almost invisible to the robots. One SWATbot barely saw a whisper in front of him as his rifle was taken; the other lost its firearm without noticing the thief. The other robots caught up with them when Shadow struck. From the darkness, the SWATbots were mowed down with their own weapons.

With the robotic menace dispatched, Shadow emerged from his hiding place, carrying a rifle in each hand. He tossed the weapons to one side, and then went to check his adversary. Turning Sonic on his side, he could see the entry wounds in his front; one in his stomach, the other in his chest, either one could have been fatal. Sonic wasn't breathing, and no pulse registered.

"No… NO!!!"

"You filthy rust buckets!" Shadow ran up to one and gave it a sturdy kick, almost breaking his foot in the process, but he wouldn't pay attention to any pain.

"I was to defeat him! I was to grind his face into the dirt! I was going to humiliate him until he felt lower than pond scum! And then I was going to crush him! Me! ME!!!"

Shadow picked up the guns again, and in his rage, started firing into the metal carcasses randomly.

"If it was Robotnik who sent you, then he'll pay! I'll do to him, what he has denied me!"

Shadow screamed and threw the guns at the nearest robot, hitting with a sharp "chank".

In a fit of rage, Shadow ran off, completely without direction.

* * *

"Destroyed?! What do you mean my robots were destroyed?"

"Units RJ6044, RJ6045, RJ6046, RJ6047, RJ6112, and RJ6113 have not responded. The last information collected from them indicated they suffered quick and severe damage. Likely conclusion from analysis is that they were destroyed by gunfire."

"Just my luck. I finally defeat that hedgehog, and I am denied my prize!" Robotnik grumbled. "Send some drones to that area to recover the SWATbots. Hopefully my trophy is still waiting; it's not like he can get up and run away."

Robotnik started to laugh again.

* * *

Almost half an hour would pass before anyone else would come to this spot. A scouting party from Knothole had heard the gunfire and took this long to arrive. The scene that awaited them sent shivers through them.

* * *

The news hit Knothole like a thousand tonnes of bricks. No one would believe that their great hero was dead, but a quick examination of the body would send even the most faithful to tears.

Shadow followed the scouts to Knothole and waited in the woods, watching the events as they unfolded. For almost an hour, there seemed to be nothing but crying, as everyone gathered around the body of their great hero. Occasionally, the scouts would try to move the body to a more noble place, like his hut as opposed to out in the open, but such progression was slow going with the hordes surrounding them.

It wasn't until princess Sally came and ordered the body moved indoors that they were finally able to move. Sonic was placed in his hut and Geoffrey had placed two guards at the door. Sally had spent the whole day there from morning to dusk. Dr. Quack had come and gone a few times, the first to confirm his death; the others were to make sure the body was prepared for his funeral. Geoffrey had come once, though it was to comfort Sally, and hopefully try to get her to come out, but she refused. Any increased effort on his part was met with a scowl from his liege, so he left her alone.

Shadow skulked around Knothole, making sure he wasn't spotted. All he could see was the frowns and tears of the villagers. In one corner, several carpenters were using their best wood to fashion a simple box. Though not as lavish a box could be for it's purpose, it was obvious that they were putting their best effort into what they had to work with.

He continued to surround the village, when he came to a small enclave behind one of the huts. There sat a very lonely individual, a small orange fox. He didn't move, except for the odd twitch of his tail, or the other tail. Shadow was at first shocked by the odd mutation, but soon he forgot it, and to him, Tails was nothing more than another lost soul in this decrepit wasteland.

Laving the kitsune behind, Shadow eventually made his way behind Sonic's hut, and looked in a window. The small dome of sticks and straw had a very simple interior; no walls other than the outside, a small table sat on one side, big enough for maybe four people, a couple of more windows aside from the one Shadow was at, a single wooden door, a few chairs scattered here and there, and just to his left, almost invisible from the angle, was a simple hammock, occupied with a sheet draped over it. Just behind the hammock was a lone figure seated as a bedside vigil.

There was Sally, whom Shadow had seen only once previous to this occasion, now a totally different person. All joy had been taken from her, and she sat mostly silent. Occasionally she would wipe a way a tear or say something, but the hut's walls muted whatever she said, and Shadow couldn't see her lips to read them. He didn't really need to know the words to know their meaning, she was heart broken, and nothing anyone could do would ever fix it.

Over the next few hours, Shadow silently watched the distraught woman. As long as only Sally was there, he felt he could stay at the window without being noticed, the moment anyone came in, he moved away. Occasionally someone would come in and bring her something to eat, but she just told them to place it on the table, and then ignored it.

It would be well into the night before Sally would finally leave. Slowly she trudged to the door, and stopped in front of it. She wiped a few last tears and took a deep breath. Before leaving, she took one last look at the makeshift bed, hoping against all hope that there would be some movement under the sheet.

Then something seemed to beckon her, taking her eyes of the bed, she looked over at the window. Shadow saw it and quickly moved before she could make him out. Sally didn't understand what she saw or thought she saw; her mind was just too muddled to care. She took another deep breath, and with the dignified steps of royalty, she stepped out.

Shadow had pulled away, using the night to mask his motions. He followed Sally to her hut, and watched the façade she perpetrated; just in case anyone saw her, she wanted to exhume a feeling of strength. He thought it silly; being a creature of darkness, showing off was a pointless gesture. In the dark, display meant nothing; there would be no point in putting on a strong face when no one could see it. Shadow used the darkness to hide, but many more people used the light to create false pretence.

* * *

The funeral was held the next day. Sally thought it best to do it quickly instead of keeping everyone off guard for fear of an attack by Robotnik, which she knew would come quickly. Activity from his robotic army was on the increase, hoping to use the distress now caused by Sonic's end to flush them out once and for all.

Shadow stayed to watch, he had to see the final resting place of his adversary.

* * *

As if on cue, the weather had turned most miserable; it was cold, and the fog was thick. If he was careful, Shadow could have stood within a few feet of the crowd and not be seen. But he didn't like the white fog, instead retreating to the shadows under the trees. Watching the proceedings, Shadow took out an apple and started to eat it.

"Dearly beloved, we have gathered here to bid farewell to one of our own…"

Shadow really didn't pay all that much attention to the speech, nor did he really look at the congregation. From his distance he couldn't see the distressed faces of everyone that had gathered, but he could feel it. Everyone was cold and dark; the light that once shone in their eyes had been extinguished. Shadow had no idea what they were like before, but he knew they would have been nothing like this.

As the funeral progressed, Shadow would watch as several people stepped forward individually to say something to the ground beneath the cross. Some would leave flowers on the fresh dirt; others would simply stand and cry. From his distance, Shadow could make out few of the words, which were already too soaked in grief and sadness to be legible at close range. He also could not see any more than basic forms through the fog, so identifying any of them, save for the mutant fox, was totally out of the question, not that he knew any of them to begin with.

After almost an hour, pretty much everyone had made some last peace with Sonic, except two. Shadow risked it and moved a little closer to see. Left standing at the grave were a small group, including Sally and Geoffrey. Sally made one step forward, and looked down to the earth.

"Sonic. How could this have happened? I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye. We all knew that fighting Robotnik would be dangerous, but we had to do it. We couldn't just surrender to him and become his slaves. We all knew the risks, and that many would die, but never in my worst dreams, did I even consider losing you."

Sally stifled back some tears.

"Sometimes, I think about Robotnik's ultimatums: surrender and have peaceful lives as his servants, as mindless robots without a care in the world. He even said he would let me be, probably as his queen of all the repulsive things. If I had accepted, then perhaps I could have worked it so that I could still have you with me. All I had to do was abandon my people and my responsibility to them. If knew then what I know now, I'm scared that I might have considered it; I'm terrified that I might have accepted it."

"Sonic, I'm sorry that I can't have you. I chose my people over anything that I wanted for myself a long time ago. And now it seems my people are all I have. One day, I'll be joining you; I only hope that you can forgive for not choosing you then, or now. I have to help my people, I will not forget you, please don't forget me."

Tears flowed freely from Sally's eyes. Shadow couldn't see it from his distance, but he was mesmerized by Sally nonetheless.

* * *

For several more minutes, Sally stood there silently while everyone else had quietly left for Knothole. She probably would have stayed longer if Geoffrey hadn't taken her away. With the funeral procession gone, Shadow moved in.

He stood beside the small wooden cross with Sonic's name etched in it.

"So, I guess you couldn't be bothered to give me that rematch, after all. Coward."

Shadow stood there, waiting for an answer he knew wouldn't come.

"What an idiot, going off and getting yourself killed. You sure let down your friends, now what are they going to do? It would serve you right if they totally forgot you, or worse, if they did remember how you failed them."

Shadow paused again, waiting for some words to come from his rage.

"You bastard! How dare you deny me my right to revenge?!"

Shadow stood there, his eyes gleaming hatefully upon the fresh grave. After a minute, he looked up to see that someone had taken notice of him.

"So, you must be this 'Shadow' character."

"And you are Geoffrey St. John, former royal guard. My, how far the mighty have fallen."

"Bite your tongue. You've got some nerve to come here screaming at a grave. Have you no respect for the dead?"

"On the contrary, I have ultimate respect for the dead, I treat them as if they were alive. That's why I can scream at them."

"You are seriously warped. Get out of here!"

"Yes, I suppose I am at that. Tell me, just what feelings did you have for the deceased before his demise?"

"That's no business of yours."

"I figured as much. Well, I can see I've wasted your time, but more importantly, I've wasted mine." Shadow started to leave. "I'll be going. Pray that we never meet again."

Before Geoffrey could respond, though he really didn't have a response, Shadow ran off.

"Good riddance to you. Good riddance to you both."

To be continued


	6. Chapter 4: Break Point

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 4: Break Point**_

Shadow left Knothole behind; he just couldn't tolerate it any longer. It wasn't so much the grieving over Sonic that got him down, nor was it how uneasy anyone that came within 10 metres of him felt, and thusly made him feel. No, it was an emptiness in himself. Ever since he came here, he really only knew one thing, he detested Sonic the Hedgehog. But now, Sonic was gone; he had no one to hate.

Shadow trotted along whatever path he could find, not even bothering to run, he had no need, there was no reason to.

For almost two hours, Shadow walked on, trying to put as much distance between him and that horrid little village as possible. The path before him seemed totally vacant, not a soul to be seen around, just endless forest on either side. Well in front of him, the trees thinned out and soon came upon an open plain. This was near Bunnie's patch, perhaps he should pay one last visit, possibly tell her about what happened, if she hadn't heard yet. A few dark thoughts passed his mind; perhaps he'd have a bit of fun with her as a going away present, but for some reason that thought wouldn't stick. Instead, maybe he should take her away from here; it would get much more dangerous with Sonic gone. Another thought passed him, why should he even care at all?

Shadow shook all those ideas from his head, and continued on for another ten minutes.

* * *

In the distance, Shadow could hear some commotion, although he wasn't sure what, it sounded like it was coming from Bunnie's patch.

* * *

Within seconds, Shadow had arrived to what was Bunnie's carrot patch. A number of Robotnik's robots were on the scene trashing the place, similar to the ones who were building the dam.

"Hey! Stop that!"

The group turned to face the black hedgehog.

"Emergency procedure: Initialize anti-Sonic attack subroutines."

"Sonic?! You made a BIG mistake there!"

Shadow leapt into battle, charging the robots. The robots' scanners tried to lock onto him, but were having an unusual difficulty; their scanners were upgraded to be able to see Sonic, but the shadowy moves of this other hedgehog were much harder to get a secure lock on. Before they could even fire one shot, Shadow was already in the middle of them and jumped straight at one of them.

Rolled into a spiny ball, Shadow tore into his target like a circular saw, ripping it in half. Using the two halves of the destroyed machine as a jump point, he launched into another one, slamming it right in its chest; that is if machines had chests. Another jump and a swift kick later, and another robot was left decapitated.

By now, every robot on the field had rushed towards the vicious hedgehog; each trying to subdue him in what was clearly a suicidal attempt. One by one, they were struck down, some totally destroyed, others severely damaged, but equally out of commission.

After two minutes, the entire troop was defeated. Shadow stopped to survey his work. Beneath his feet, the remains of over two dozen robots were left in a state similar to what they had left the carrot patch in. A few of them were still semi-functioning, and chanting a monotonous "Error: malfunction." over and over again.

"Bunnie?!" Shadow started to look around him, trying to find the rabbit that originally occupied this land. "Bunnie?!"

When he passed one of the still undestroyed robots, he gave it a quick kick to end its misery. He continued to search, until he heard a strange but familiar voice. Taking a few steps to his right, he found another damaged robot idly chanting the two strange words, "Error: malfunction." Shadow looked down and turned the robot over. Its face, though metal, was very familiar.

"What? How is this possible? Bunnie?"

At his feet, the rabbit who once tended this land and tilled it with her heart and soul was now a mindless machine helping to destroy it.

"How did this happen? What kind of monster is this Robotnik?!"

Shadow dropped to his knees and picked up the robot rabbit in his arms. "I'm sorry, I wish I could have been here to stop this."

His heart, once filled with hatred, then made empty, was now filling with despair; an incredible grief came over him. For what seemed like an eternity, Shadow felt as if all was lost, that the world around him had collapsed with the loss of this one person.

From around his neck, the large gem he wore reacted. It fed of his sorrow and started to glow, then it started to crack. All his sadness seemed to overflow him, and from his once hateful eyes, he cried one tear. 

The gem shattered, bathing both of them in a brilliant green light.

Shadow felt his body burning up as the crystal shards seemed to infuse into his chest, and with them, two words, two very strange words, echoed through his mind.

{_Chaos Control…_}

Shadow let out a mighty scream that could be heard for miles. Soon the voice and the light were gone. All that was left in the decimated carrot patch was the dark figure of the black hedgehog and the form of a rabbit, now again flesh.

"Bunnie?" Shadow shook her a bit, but got no response. "Bunnie?"

He laid her on the ground and tried to check for any sign of life. Her breathing was very weak, as was her pulse.

"Don't worry, kid. I'll get you some help."

He picked her up, then looking for a route, took off.

* * *

Elsewhere, the incident has not gone totally unnoticed. Dr. Robotnik had received a message saying that Sonic was spotted in the fields around the great forest.

"What, a 'Sonic alert'? Impossible. Bring up the data from this alert." 

Up came the details of the recent sighting, including an image of the dark hedgehog on the large screen.

"That's not Sonic. Play back any video you have of the incident."

Robotnik watched the few available seconds of video transferred to him before the robots were decimated. What was shown before him, bore resemblance to his former nemesis, but with almost a ghostly appearance. Robotnik refused to believe that this could be the ghost of Sonic, but who or what was it?

"Computer, compile a new profile on this creature, and tie in all data from any future 'Sonic alerts' to him."

"Profile 'H49' created."

* * *

After almost five minutes, Shadow had once again found Knothole. He didn't take notice of how well Knothole was hidden other than it how it slowed his progress; searching for a place he had been to before should not have taken this long to reach. Upon reaching the small huts of the village, he started asking around for a doctor. A few of the residents were a little surprised by his appearance, and his carrying a young rabbit in his arms, some even mistook him for their late hero.

Eventually, he got an answer, and headed towards the building that they referred to as a "hospital", though from the outside it appeared to be nothing more than a normal hut that was larger than the others.

* * *

"What happened to this girl?"

"It was those blasted robots; she got into a tussle with a bunch of them."

Doctor Quack continued to examine the rabbit now hooked up to a breathing apparatus. "That's something, I'm surprised she isn't in worse shape."

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Maybe, there doesn't appear to be anything wrong, not physically. It's more like she's incredibly exhausted; its like she's so tired instead of falling asleep, she's about to fall dead."

"Can you help her?"

"There's not a lot I can do. I can make her comfortable and hope she snaps out of this. Hopefully a good night's sleep may bring her back. But I'm afraid to say she might not be able to get that here."

"Why not?!"

"We just can't take her right now."

"Do you want money? I can pay you." With out thinking, Shadow reached into his pouch and pulled out one of the rings he collected.

"Money has no value here; it's that we're in a very tight spot right now. Dr. Robotnik's forces are heading our way. Our forces are out there, but it doesn't look good. If those robots break through, then they might find this place, and we'll have to evacuate. If they don't then our own casualties will be severe. I can't take care of all of them and the girl too." The doctor sighed and considered the situation for a second. "I can keep her here, but not for long."

Shadow was starting to get angry, there was that name again, "Robotnik". It was he that did this to Bunnie; it was he that would pay for it.

The doctor then noticed the ring that Shadow was holding. "Could I see that for a second?"

The duck took the ring from Shadow and examined it. "Well, this could be useful, if it wasn't expended."

"Expended?" Shadow took a closer look at the ring; it definitely appeared darker in color than before. The polished sheen was there, but it lacked the slight glow it had.

"What _are_ these things?"

"You've never seen a Power Ring before?"

Shadow whispered to himself. "'Power ring'?"

"Yeah, they're a source of energy; they can be used to power machines, and in certain individuals can also grant special power. But this one is used up."

Shadow thought back, the Chaos Control. At first he thought that it's power came from the jewel in the necklace, but it seemed to take power from the rings too. He wondered if he could do it again, or if there was anything else he could do.

"Can you take care of her until I get back? I shouldn't be long."

"Well, that's what doctors are for."

* * *

Shadow returned to the small room where Bunnie was.

"I have to go. I'm going to make it up to you, kid."

Shadow took off the empty necklace and placed it on the night table. 

* * *

Shadow left the hospital and started to look upon this village. Knothole seemed very dark, rivalling the darkness that resided in his own heart, but instead of feeling at home here, he felt it infringed on him even more, almost as if it was trying to be even darker than he.

"This place is so dead, the energy is totally gone."

In the air about him, he could sense what everyone knew, Robotnik was coming, eventually he would find this place, and then…

His fists clenched at the thought, after what he did to Bunnie, he couldn't allow this to continue. Taking a few quick steps, Shadow launched into his phase run.

In their dreaded state, only one citizen of Knothole even noticed the black hedgehog at all. A female panda was taking her clothes to the river to wash them, but froze in place when she saw the "ghost of Sonic" charging off before her.

After a pause of 5 seconds, she screamed.

To be continued


	7. Chapter 5: Crossing the Rubicon

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 5: Crossing the Rubicon**_

In the distance, he could hear the marching, the incoming onslaught that would lay this place to ruin. Checking his pouch, Shadow noticed that all the rings he had up to now were wasted, just like the one he had in the hospital. Ditching the lot of them, he charged into the forest, looking for more. If it took eight rings to save Bunnie, it would take a lot more to stop an army of robots.

* * *

Charging through the forest, barely visible to the naked eye in the already dark trees, a black vapour skirted through the mighty giants. Wherever a ring appeared, it soon disappeared, taken by silent hands into the ether.

But the rings had more than one pursuer; another had been on the prowl for them. Near a mighty oak, a lone ring waited as a figure descended on it. A hand reached and grabbed the golden treasure, just as the shadow whispered by. The ring was pulled in two directions. Shadow was stopped and almost fell over, while his competitor was yanked to the ground.

"Who the Hell are you?!" Shadow demanded, still clenching the ring.

"What do you think you're doing? That's mine!" The stranger stood up, still gripping the ring in the right hand.

Shadow was now able to get a clear view of his opponent. Standing slightly taller than him, and dressed in a black leather suit that was wide open at the top; the hefty cleavage easily revealed that it was a woman. She wore white boots and gloves with several pink hearts on them, and a big one on her chest to further exemplify her large bosom. The wings told him the rest, this was Rouge, one of the most famous treasure hunters in the world; if it sparkled or shined, then she wanted it.

"I need these."

"Get in line buddy, no one steals from Rouge the Bat. Surely you've heard of me."

Shadow was not about to let this bitch get to him. "Can't say that I have."

"Hmph! Well, perhaps I should teach you not to mess with me." Still holding the ring, Rouge started kicking at Shadow, to the face, to the legs, to the chest, straight up the middle. Shadow didn't let go either, and dodged every assault.

"You're quick. I've been hearing tales of a speedy hedgehog around here, named 'Sonic'. Are you him, or are all hedgehogs this fast of foot?"

"I am not he, and there is only one hedgehog who possesses such speed, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you perceive it."

"Then who are you?" She asked coyly.

"And give you an advantage? I am Shadow, and I demand you relinquish this ring immediately."

"Not a chance Mr. Shadow. Perhaps I should shine a light on you and make you disappear."

Shadow couldn't wait around for this dingbat any longer; he was in a real hurry. "Fine, keep it; I'll just take those over there."

Rouge looked over at the bunch of rings hidden behind some trees. "Oh no you don't… ?"

When she turned away from the rings in the brush, she found that Shadow was gone, leaving only the ring in her hand. Looking back, the four hidden rings were also gone.

"Where did he go?"

* * *

Almost a mile away, things were not going well. Geoffrey's troop, which was originally 103 strong, had been whittled down to 54, and many were injured. They had hunkered down behind rocks, and trees, trying to hold their position against the oncoming robotic army. Almost 100 SWATbots, 30 Buzzers and a dozen tanks made up the attacking party, and so far only a dozen were felled. They had hoped that the woods would slow the invaders, but the Robots kept coming, and the tanks simply fired into the woods, destroying trees and crushing the brush under their oversized treads.

"Sir, we aren't faring very well."

Geoffrey tried his best to remain calm, even though he knew defeat was coming very quickly.

"Send a messenger back to Knothole, and tell them to evacuate. We'll try to hold them for a little while longer."

Cannon fire screamed over their heads, exploding some of the trees in the forest.

Geoffrey sat there, watching the oncoming hordes. He knew they were beaten; they came into battle beaten. The former king's guard knew full well that they were going to die. No one had any fight in them, despite all his attempts to rile them; no one wanted to fight anymore. After Sonic's death, there seemed to be no hope. The skunk hated to admit it, he never liked Sonic, he was always too personable with the princess, never really listened to orders, always did things his own way; it was almost as if Sonic was put on Mobius solely for the purpose of annoying him. He despised him for all the attention that Sally gave him despite his flaws, and that many considered him a "hero". But no matter how much he denied it, Sonic inspired the hearts of the Freedom Fighters, and with him gone everyone had simply surrendered.

"I'm not going to let these rust buckets break me." He turned back and called to his remaining forces.

"I want everyone who is still fit and strong to come to the front! We must make one last stand against these monstrosities, and show Robotnik that we will NEVER SURRENDER!!!"

* * *

Deep in the forest, a cry echoed through the woods, too deep and distant for any to hear. 

"Chaos Control!"

* * *

Almost reluctantly, anyone left standing had moved forward. 

"Men, I fear that this day is lost. We can only hope that the people of Knothole can escape, and that our princess will be safe. I am proud to have served with all of you, and I hope that what awaits us on the other side will be far better than this." 

Geoffrey paused. He took a quick look around to his remaining army, all of them showing the same gloom of death, but all having at least some spirit to let rise to the surface. He raised his sword for the final command. "Company…"

From behind came a whirring sound unlike anything that was ever heard in the woods, Geoffrey was distracted enough to turn back and see a green flare coming straight at him at break neck speed. Instinctively, he and his troops braced themselves to the trees as the green light zoomed past, carrying a powerful gust of wind in it's wake.

"What the Hell was that?!"

The robots also saw the green comet, but didn't have the instincts to dodge. The light slammed into the first robot in the way, and it exploded in a red fiery cloud. The blaze didn't stop there, and reflected off towards another robot, destroying it on contact. Geoffrey and the others gazed on as the robots were decimated by the green light that spun around trees, climbing them to get at the buzzers, and falling to continue against the SWATbots.

The tanks were quite distant and uninvolved in the counterattack. Their mighty barrels moved, trying to lock onto the glowing green blur, but it was futile. They would fire as best they could, but the only thing they could hit were the trees and the unfortunate robots that were caught in the middle of the slaughter.

Within seconds of the start, it was over. The robots were decimated and standing in the middle of the carnage, facing the tanks stood a dark figure with glaring white highlights, and a green essence of small lights flowed from the ground he stood on like wild floating embers from a fire. From behind, the Freedom Fighters couldn't believe what they were seeing. From the bad angle it wouldn't be possible to tell who is really was, or wasn't; but to all, it appeared that the ghost of Sonic had come to save them all. Only Geoffrey realized who was standing back to them, and he was equally shocked.

The tanks locked on.

Shadow called in a most evil voice. "I'm not going to move from this spot, so you've got one shot at me! You had better make it count!"

The tanks fired straight and true.

Before the shells hit their intended target, the green aura flared, and to Shadow, time had been reduced to a crawl. The oversized bullets were pulled into a green nightmare, as was everything else, but only they were fast enough to register any motion. They came within a few feet of Shadow when he pulled his arms back, and swung forward in a massive energy-infused double-cross punch. A huge energy wave smashed the shells.

Outside the aura, the tanks watched as the shells crashed into the green flame, only to be thrown back at them in a mass of green energy. With no chance to move out of the way, the tanks were obliterated.

The threat was eliminated, and the green aura faded, releasing Shadow back into normal space and time.

While most of Geoffrey's men where knocked completely for a loop by the surprise change in events, the leader of the pack had marched forward towards the dark hedgehog.

"So, are you helping us after all?"

Without even turning to face him, "I have my reasons."

"And they are?"

"Simply put, I realize there is a great enemy out there, and something has to be done about it."

"I suppose we could rely on that."

Shadow turned his head to see the skunk behind him. "I wouldn't if I were you; I am not someone you should trust, just the opposite. So long as Robotnik is alive, he will have me as an enemy, but don't think that makes us allies by a long shot."

Geoffrey started to turn away. "I don't think you have to worry about that; to be honest, I didn't like you much before, and my opinion hasn't changed very much since."

"That's the other reason."

Geoffrey stopped.

"My very helping you disturbs me greatly, because it's what _he_ did. I do not fully understand why, but I despise him; something you and I share, but for different reasons." Shadow chuckled once. "But, although our reasons are different, they're probably equal in their invalidity."

"He was a total show-off and showed no respect, not to me, especially not to princess Sally."

"And she liked him, in spite of his attitude and you."

"Yes."

"Then I was right, our resentment of him is equal: totally invalid."

Geoffrey was taken aback.

"There is no point to further harbour such feelings, he's gone. But that is why it is so hard to do this, to help all or any of you. It is not because of the hatred I had, that I will get over, but because of everyone else. You see, everyone has become so despondent since Sonic's death, and they feel all hope is lost; a hole was created in their hearts. They now seek something to fill the void. If I help you, there is little doubt that they will try to replace him with me. That sickens me, and it is a burden I don't want."

"The job of 'hero' scares you."

"No, what _you_ are doing scares me."

"Me?"

"Yes. You have good reason not to trust me, but that is not why you resent me. The real reason you loathe me is because Sonic is gone, and the hatred you had for him has nowhere to go. Here I am, a 'hero' who just saved the day, shortly after the loss of your last hero. To make matters worse, we're both hedgehogs, and from a distance, you probably couldn't tell the difference between us. You know full well that I'm not Sonic, but deep in your heart, whatever feelings you had for him _are_ transferring to me. That is what I fear, that I will be nothing more than a shadow of him. I am Shadow by name only, and I have my own life to live, not someone else's."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

Shadow paused to consider Geoffrey's words. "If you truly mean that, then I will help you."

Shadow turned and reached out with his right hand. Geoffrey looked at it for a second and thought. Slowly, he reached out and took it.

To be continued


	8. Chapter 6: To Run in another Man's Shoes

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 6: To Run in another Man's Shoes**_

Twenty minutes later, Geoffrey and Shadow returned to Knothole with the former's troops; by now, everyone had heard about the appearance of the black hedgehog in battle, and the destruction of Robotnik's robots. They had also heard of the casualties suffered, and many of them were gearing up to treat the wounded.

When the party returned, they were swarmed by the residents who seemed to have renewed vigor since Shadow had last passed through. The severely wounded were laid out on the ground and the more or less healthy ones sat down on tree stumps and chairs provided by the populace. The doctor went to examine each one, and princess Sally headed towards the skunk and the hedgehog with a few others in tow, including the strange fox.

"Geoffrey! S…" Sally stopped herself before she accidentally called out the wrong name.

"Shadow, miss Sally."

"Oh, yes, Shadow." Sally was almost blushing at how she was about to call him "Sonic".

"I understand that you helped our troops defeat Robotnik's robots."

Geoffrey responded. "Actually, your highness, he took them all out himself."

Tails jumped up. "Wow! That's incredible! How'd you do it?"

"Just a gift I have."

"Well, I hope you don't mind lending us your aid. But if you don't… I'll understand."

Before he answered, Shadow noticed the doctor checking the troops. "You'll have to excuse me, your highness, but I have something to check on. I'll be back shortly."

Shadow bowed, and scooted off towards the doctor.

"Doc!"

The duck looked back at him. "Ah, it's you again. It's quite the story they're telling about you."

"Yeah, yeah. How is she?"

"She's much better, and breathing on her own. The last I saw she was still asleep, but you can check on her."

Shadow raced to the hospital, and to Bunnie's room. Inside, she was sleeping, just as the doctor had said. Shadow moved to the side of the bed to look at her face, cute, almost cuddly, and totally ignorant of what had recently transpired. Looking at her stirred a strange feeling in the dark hedgehog, a warm feeling, like taking a relaxing bath in lukewarm water. He heard the commotion outside as several of the wounded were bring brought inside, so he started to leave. But the noise also woke the sleeping rabbit.

"Mmm… Shadow?"

Shadow turned. "You O.K.?"

"Yeah, what happened? Mah memory is a bit foggy, there were these robots and…"

"Just rest, we'll talk in the morning."

"Shadow." In the door was the doctor.

"Doc?"

"I'm sorry, but she won't be able to stay here, we've got too many wounded here to keep them all in the hospital."

"Then where is there room for her?"

Geoffrey came up behind the doctor. "You and she can stay in the barracks, we've lost a lot of people so there are plenty of beds."

Shadow grumbled. "Great, I'm here in place of one dead man, and about to sleep in the bed of another."

"Excuse me?"

Shadow snapped back to reality. "Oh, sorry about that. Just a little dazed by this whole scenario."

Shadow walked over to Bunnie. "We've got to move, they'll have another place for us to sleep."

Bunnie yawned. "Where?"

"You just sleep, I'll worry about that."

Shadow reached down and picked up the rabbit.

"Wait, isn't that yah necklace, and where's the jewel?"

"You can have it if you want; it's served its purpose."

Bunnie took the necklace that was now missing the oversized gemstone. 

Shadow continued out the door and followed Geoffrey to the barracks. As they walked through the small woodland village, the black hedgehog got a number of stares. Especially attentive to them, were the eyes of Sally, who watched the mysterious stranger carrying the younger rabbit.

* * *

In the barracks, basically a series of caves dug into the ground, Shadow and Bunnie were brought to the sleeping quarters, nothing more than a series of large chambers, each with around two dozen beds and matching lockers. They eventually found themselves at two unoccupied beds that Geoffrey led them to. Shadow laid Bunnie on one, then took the necklace from her hands, and placed it on a nearby night table. He then took the other bed.

A few of the other beds were occupied, and couple more had people surrounding them, preparing for their slumber. A couple of the normal residents had come over to thank or congratulate Shadow for his accomplishment. Shadow was a bit annoyed when someone accidentally referred to him as "Sonic", but found the overall barrage of questions and comments to be far more annoying than the slip of the tongue.

Eventually, Shadow had a visitor. Sally had walked down the rows of beds, receiving salutes from anyone still awake, until she reached Shadow, who was sleeping on his stomach. She looked over to see if he was asleep or not.

"No, I'm not asleep." Shadow rolled to his side. "Your highness."

"Please, just call me Sally."

"That I believe would get on the nerves of Geoffrey."

Sally smiled a bit; the first time he ever saw any such thing come from her face. "Yeah, I guess it would. So, will you be staying with us?"

"I suppose, I really don't have anywhere to go."

Sally sat down on the bed in front of Shadow, with Bunnie sleeping behind him. "So tell me, who is she?"

"Her name's Bunnie. I met her a few days ago when I accidentally found myself in her carrot patch. She was being hassled by some of those robots this morning; that's how she ended up like this."

"Poor girl."

"If you don't mind my saying so, but 'poor you' might be more appropriate."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Bunnie will be fine, but you. You've been very depressed lately. Now I don't claim to know you since I first saw you only a couple of days ago, but at the funeral, you were definitely the most heart broken."

"It was that obvious, huh?"

"I know what despair is like."

"I loved him, I so desperately wanted this war to be over and for us to be together. But that won't happen now." Sally wiped away a tear from her face.

"That is a pain that I only felt for a brief moment, and it wasn't as intense at what you feel, but it hit me hard. I can't even fathom what you are going through."

Sally didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"It's so hard to let go. I don't know if I can go on."

"You have to, if you don't nobody else will."

Sally sat up and was preparing to leave. "I know, a princess must think of her people before herself. But that doesn't make it any easier."

"No it doesn't, but you're off to a good enough start."

"How do you mean?"

Shadow smirked. "Earlier, you didn't call me 'Sonic'."

* * *

Deep in Robotropolis, Dr. Robotnik had taken much interest in the newcomer. 

"Computer, display all collected data on the subject 'H49' and compare to all data on subject 'Sonic'."

"Processing."

In front of the doctor's hovering chair, two large screens flashed the requested information. The left showed an image of Shadow from his rumble at Bunnie's patch; the right showed full details on the more familiar hedgehog, Sonic.

"There is still limited information on subject 'H49'." was the response from the computer.

"Ignore, examine all _known_ data and compare, taking into consideration that both are of the same species, and give me a result."

"Subject 'H49' has an unknown variant not present in subject 'Sonic' that is not identifiable as anything of this world. Overall comparison of available data on both subjects, ignoring similarities of being same species, shows a match of 98.3%."

"What? 98.3%? Unless they were brothers or something, such a match would be virtually impossible. Just my luck, I finally defeat my greatest foe, and another takes his place; even worse, one who is almost identical, with a new and unique power."

Robotnik examined the picture of his new adversary. "Most disturbing."

* * *

Elsewhere, Shadow's feat had been noticed by one more. In the trees surrounding the previous battlefield, Rouge sat on a high branch in a total stupor.

"What the Hell is he?"

END OF ACT I


	9. ACT II: EARNING YOUR KEEP

**Act II: Earning Your Keep**

**A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction by Black Mantle**

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Sonic is now gone, and another has reluctantly taken his place. But while Shadow tries to learn how to fit in, his help also comes at a price. To help make ends meet, more help is needed, but is the new price tag any better.


	10. Chapter 1: All Power has a Price

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 1: All Power has a Price**_

"48 rings?"

Shadow was meeting with Sally and Geoffrey. Displayed before them were the rings Shadow had taken into battle the previous night. 59 rings were laid out, 48 had been drained of their power.

Sally picked up one of the drained rings, and held it up to a small hand computer. "That's quite the power you must have if it drained all these rings."

Shadow crossed his arms. "They say that any power has a price. I'm sorry if I'm not Energy Star compliant."

Geoffrey also took one of the drained rings. "This could be a problem. If you need this many rings to perform your Chaos Control, then your usefulness is in serious question."

Sally tossed the expired ring back in the pile. "There's just no way we could gather the rings needed for an offensive, or a dependable defence for that matter. We have to be careful how we use power rings around here, they don't just grow on trees."

"Then, where do they come from?"

Geoffrey answered. "They are a physical manifestation of energy. We really don't know where the energy comes from, but they culminate in certain areas in the form of rings. They hold a lot of power, but they regenerate very slowly, sometimes taking months to return. We've found that by taking expended rings to certain areas they can be recharged, it's much faster than waiting for one to regenerate completely, but it still takes weeks to achieve full power."

"And how many rings do you have?"

Sally hesitated to answer, that being a piece of information that was not freely given. She turned away from the pair, facing a nearby wall. "We have a little over 200 in stock. Our scouts gather on average, 8 rings a day, but we need 4 or 5 to maintain everyday activities."

"Which means your attack would have drained a two week surplus."

Shadow didn't need Geoffrey to do the math for him.

"What we need, is a more efficient way to collect rings, or a better way to recharge them."

"I could collect them, I collected these."

Sally turned back to Shadow. "How long did it take you?"

"A couple minutes."

"Really, then this might work."

Geoffrey stepped in. "Excuse my lack of faith, but it seems that we might be spreading ourselves a little thin here. You might be able to help us fight Robotnik, but if you have to keep going out collecting rings, it would diminish your ability to attack or defend. Not to mention it makes us too reliant on one person."

Geoffrey realized that mentioning it got to Sally and Shadow, it was the exact situation they had before with Sonic; Sally missed him so much, and Shadow hated the implication of taking his doppelganger's place.

"I'm sorry, but I had to say it."

"Still, if that's what it takes, then that's what must be done. It looks like we'll need you to pull double duty."

Shadow wasn't too keen on having to find his own supply of power, but so be it. "I'll do what I can; after all, I got these on my own, pretty quickly too. It would have been faster if…"

Sally and Geoffrey looked on as Shadow smirked and started a weak maniacal laugh.

"What is it?"

"I could have shaved almost a minute off my time had I not had a chance run in yesterday. Your highness, I think I may have an answer to our energy problems; if I can find her again that is."

* * *

Deep in the Great Forest, far away from the hidden village of Knothole, or the glorious eyesore of Robotropolis, a lone stranger to the woods flew about the treetops.

Down below, a row of five rings was lying out in the open.

{Five pretty little rings, just waiting for me.}

The winged predator swooped down to ground level and with an outstretched arm, hooked each ring one after the other. The first four were easy, but the fifth had a bit of resistance to it, enough to bring the flier down to earth.

Planting both feet firmly on the ground, two eyes looked back to examine the obstacle that solidified the last ring.

A shameless smile was visible in the darkness. "Hey there Sweet Thing. Funny meeting you here."

* * *

Shadow let Rouge take the last ring in exchange for hearing him out.

"So you want me to find Power Rings for you and these 'Freedom Fighters' for their war against Dr. Robotnik?"

"That's right."

"Well, that is an interesting proposal, but I have other concerns."

"Like what?"

"Me, for one. You expect me to collect these delicious rings and just give them away to a bunch of grubby forest dwellers who probably couldn't scrounge up a decent meal to offer, let alone the money to pay for my services."

"So I suppose asking you to do it out of the goodness of your heart is out of the question."

"'Goodness of the heart' isn't going to put cash in my pocket."

"Is money all you want?"

Rouge cackled. "Of course not. Money is just paper or small discs of metal. What I like either sparkles or shines. Gold, jewels, hmmmm… That's the stuff. Now if you had a chest full of beautiful diamonds and rubies, then we could talk."

"What if I could promise you all the jewels you could ever want."

"You'll be promising the stars my dark friend. Where would you get jewels anyway?"

"Sally is a princess, ruler of Mobotropolis. At least before Robotnik came. If we defeat him, I'm sure she'll gladly reward you for your trouble."

"That's hardly good enough. Although I'm sure she'll be able to grant my wishes, that's a long wait I'll have, as well as very long odds. You may be willing to bet that you'll win, but I want a more concrete guarantee."

"Then I'll personally barge into Robotropolis and steal back whatever I can. We'll consider that as advanced payment."

"That is equally long odds, although it would cut the waiting time. You must really be desperate for my help."

"I wouldn't go quite that far. I can collect rings too you know, probably faster than you."

"Hah, if that were true, then you wouldn't be wasting your time with me."

"Of course it's true, I have these after all."

Rouge noticed that Shadow was now holding five rings. She took a look in her purse to find the five rings she had just collected were missing. "You slimeball. Give those back!"

"Make me."

Rouge tried to grab the hedgehog, but he was far too fast and was out of her reach in a fraction of a second.

"Hey, come back here."

Rouge ran after him, only for Shadow to move around again. She was about to lock onto his new position when she decided she didn't want to play this stupid game.

"O.K. You've made your point. Now can I have my rings back?"

"Are you going to consider my proposal?"

"I suppose."

Shadow tossed the rings back at Rouge, and with a few quick motions, she recaptured all of them.

"This princess of yours had better have a whole lot of gems, cause working with you is going to be a major pain in my ass."

"Then allow me to offer something else; your pretty little head."

"What?! You dare threaten me."

"Oh, I would never do that, but Robotnik might. A lone bat out in the middle of the Great Forest. Not only do these woods offer their own danger, but there's a mad scientist running loose. Just what do you think he'll do if he caught you."

"Catch, me? You must be joking. No one can catch Rouge the Bat!"

"I did, twice."

"The first time was an accident."

"This time wasn't. Trust me, this guy is bad news, and if you plan to stick around at all, I would suggest that you not be alone."

"I've seen his robots, they're not a big deal. But for a hedgehog, they might pose a problem, or so I've heard."

Shadow's temper started to flare, the sight from that fateful night flashed into memory. At his feet, between the scrapped robots was one very dead hedgehog, blue fur with streams of red coming from two spots in the chest.

"Are you scared of the big bad robots?"

Shadow glared at the bat and spoke in a hideous voice. "Listen here bitch, I'm not in the mood for your blasted jokes! I came to ask you for help, so here it is!" 

Shadow paused and regained his composure. "Would you please help us?"

Rouge was definitely scared at the change in Shadow's demeanor. Although she tried to hide it, her voice was broken from fear.

"I'll think about it, but you and this princess of your had better be able to deliver."

"Then I'll bring it by her for her approval. In a little bit, I'll return for your answer."

"Alright. But if I refuse, I don't want to ever see you again."

"As you wish, but if that's the case, then I suggest you leave entirely."

"An interesting choice."

Rouge stood and watched as Shadow engaged his phase run, disappearing into the woods.

"This could be easier than I thought."

To be continued


	11. Chapter 2: Moving In

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 2: Moving In**_

Shadow returned to Knothole and sought out Sally, hoping that she would go along with Rouge's payment options. He found her and Bunnie in Sonic's hut.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We're trying to work out the sleeping arrangements. Since this hut is empty, you or Bunnie can have it. She says she wouldn't mind sharing it, since there aren't many other places around here, except for the barracks."

Shadow wasn't to keen on the idea just thrown in his face. "Wait a minute."

Bunnie leapt over to him. "What's wrong? Yah don't want to stay with me?"

Shadow turned to Sally. "This is Sonic's hut, isn't er, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

Shadow started to switch his attention back and forth between the two girls. "I have no problem with sharing a hut. I wouldn't even mind sharing it with a girl. And since I kind of like you, I would definitely consider sharing a hut with you, Bunnie. But I am _not_ sleeping in Sonic's hut! You can stay here if you want, but I'm not."

Shadow stormed out, with Bunnie and Sally in pursuit.

"I'm sorry, if there was another place I would offer it."

"Look, I understand that you're only trying to help, but I'm not going to sleep in _his_ hut. I'd rather sleep up in a tree then there. In fact, I kind of like sleeping in trees, it's so peaceful."

Shadow started to scan the green roofs of the trees when he notices some foreign objects in the branches. "What are those things?"

"What, the watch posts? We built those up there to watch for any of Robotnik's troops coming through the woods. Those aren't used much because we have more placed out and around."

"Do you mind if I look at one."

"No but…"

With that, Shadow took off, using his phase run to bounce from tree to tree until he had reached one of the tree houses.

* * *

It was small, more like a large shack with windows, but Shadow really didn't consider spending much time here, he just wanted a quiet place to rest his head. He took a few paces around to get a feel for it, and laid down on the hard wooden floor. After a minute, Sally and Bunnie had made their way up the rope ladder to the post.

"Man these are small. Why would yah want to stay here?"

"I don't care about the size, I only want to sleep here. I'll be down for most of the day."

"Then I hope yah don't mind coming to Sonic's hut for a meal now and then, sugah."

"I guess not."

"Good, now if ya'll excuse me, I've got tah get down; I'm getting a might bit dizzy up here."

Sally sighed. "Well, I guess that's settled. Oh, how did things go with Rouge?"

"Decent, I suppose, but she's asking for a lot."

"How much?"

"Basically, if we win and get your old home back, she wants a cut of any treasure, say any royal jewels."

Sally hah'ed that idea. "Just how much do you think we had?"

"Well, you are a princess. I figured you must have had some stash."

Sally thought back. Mobotropolis was beautiful, made of the finest cut marble and the castle interior was lined with gold and valuable gemstones. And yes, the royal family did have a significant fortune, not that it mattered right now. But if they won, Rouge could easily take a hundred armloads of gold and jewellery and still barely make a dent in the royal vaults, that's if they could be recovered.

"I figure we must have enough to satisfy even her, if we can ever get it back. Fine, go back and tell her that I'll give her several chests of jewels if she helps us stop Robotnik, but I want some assurance that she can deliver. I'd hate to put my faith in someone I haven't even met yet."

"I can understand that; I'm still surprised that you trust me."

* * *

A couple of hours later, Shadow sought Rouge again to confirm Sally's offer.

Rouge had found a small waterfall and was taking the opportunity to get a quick shower. The forest, aside from being large was also very dirty; and despite remaining in the air for the most part, Rouge did get rather filthy. Besides, all that flying did work up a bit of a sweat, or perspiration in Rouge's case. She washed the lather from her form, scrubbing over her fur to clean any trace of filth infringing on her otherwise perfect body. Across her delicate arms, over her tight stomach, down her shapely legs, her hands visited every square millimetre until she was as pure as newly fallen snow.

"My goodness, this is quite a pretty picture isn't it?"

Rouge turned back in shock to see Shadow ogling her naked form. Quickly she tried to hide herself by sitting down into the water and wrapping her arms around her chest.

"You sick bastard! How dare you?"

"What are you talking about? If I were a sick bastard, then I wouldn't be here watching you, I'd probably totally ignore you and your lovely body."

Rouge giggled. "You do have a point."

She turned away from Shadow, but stayed sitting in the water, only giving Shadow a good look at her bare back and wings, but nothing else.

"So, what did your little princess say about my payment?"

"She'll go for it. She promised you several chests, somewhere between five and ten depending on how good you are, filled with gold and jewels."

"How big?"

"About the size of that rock over there."

"Which rock?"

"The rock that you laid your clothes on."

Rouge looked at the rock, it was a pretty good size; easily big enough for her to crawl into and then some. It was a good rock, but it could have been better; it could have had her clothes on it. Rouge looked back to see Shadow displaying her former garments.

"What do you think? Could I pull this off?"

Rouge flew into a tirade. "You pervert! Give me back my clothes!"

She had almost forgotten that she wasn't wearing anything and came within inches of giving Shadow a real good look at her. Shadow giggled a bit at Rouge's modesty, very few people in Knothole wore clothes, including him. Most of the girls relied solely on their fur for cover, Sally herself was a princess and only wore a vest and shoes, and there were times that she didn't bother with the vest. Bunnie was one of the most clothed people in the whole forest; she wore jeans that were cut off at the legs and a white shirt, but instead of buttoning it up, she simply tied it together in a knot just below her breasts.

"So, what's your answer? Are you going to help us, or not?"

Rouge was furious, and was half ready to go over there despite her undressed state and beat the living daylights out of the black hedgehog. But she knew he could avoid her, and she wanted her clothes back.

"Alright, I'll do it, just give me back my clothes."

Shadow quickly delivered her outfit back to the rock it was on before and zipped back to where he was. Rouge cautiously crept over the rock making sure to reveal as little as possible to the freak. She took a pair of white panties and slipped them on, fully knowing that Shadow was watching her as she stood up. After the panties came her black suit with the pink heart over the chest.

Sufficiently dressed, Rouge turned towards her dark visitor. "Is this how you get your jollies?"

"No, but I think I have a new hobby."

"So, when do I start? And one other thing, I work alone."

"As to your later point, that shouldn't be a problem. To the former, we still have a few terms to work out. Princess Sally wants to meet you in person, and she wants a little test, just to make sure you're up to snuff."

"A test? Well, obviously you people must be in the dark to not know of the legendary Rouge the Bat!"

"Don't look at me, but Sally's a princess, all she used to care about was the condition of the caviar at snack time. Anyway, she wants to 'have an audience' with you face to face; it's a royalty thing."

"Fine. I'll tell her off to her face, the stuck up wench. Where is she?"

"In one hour, be at the large plateau at the base of the Soleiu Mountains, about one mile directly south of here."

"An hour? She must be losing it, usually these royal types keep you waiting for days."

Shadow smirked, "Her hair appointment got cancelled."

"Ha, ha, very funny. Fine, one hour, the base of mountains."

* * *

Shadow sped off back to Knothole while Rouge sat down on a rock to put on the rest of her outfit. First her gloves, then her left boot. She took her right boot in her hands and examined it for a minute.

"Good, he didn't find it."

Rouge opened a small compartment on the bottom of the shoe and pulled out a small electronic device. Pressing a button or two on it, she spoke into it.

"I've just had a rather _pleasant_ run in with Shadow again. I've got a meeting planned with him and the princess in one hour at the Soleiu Mountains. After some little test of theirs, I should be in. Over."

* * *

"The Soleiu Mountains? An interesting spot."

The large chair spun around to reveal a large smile on Dr. Robotnik's face. "In one hour, I will have either the location of Knothole, or at the very least princess Sally and that newcomer, then I'll extract the information from them."

"Rouge, make sure you play nice with the princess now, we're getting too close to slip up now. Over"

For a speaker on the console, Rouge's voice cackled through. "Don't worry about me, I'll have her eating out of my hands. Just make sure you've got my payment ready. Over and Out."

Robotnik looked up at the view screen showing the image of the black hedgehog.

"Computer, rename profile 'H49' as 'Shadow'."

"Very soon, my black friend, you will be mine, and I will discover just what strange power you have."

The vile mechanic started to laugh most hideously.

To be continued


	12. Chapter 3: Covering your Bets

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 3: Covering your Bets**_

Flying high over the mountains, Rouge had waited the hour before her meeting with Shadow and Sally, but she was not idle. She had been guiding a troop of robots into positions around the plateau that Shadow had previously marked, then concealing themselves. Also included with them was a mid-sized vehicle, a containment vessel of some sort, painted bright yellow. It would surely be spotted by the two from Knothole, but the robots managed to hide it under a large stone colored tarpaulin. 

Rouge turned her attention away from the robots, looking towards the plateau that Shadow had indicated. In her head, she went over Robotnik's orders.

{Convince them to let you join, follow them back to Knothole, and relay its position to him. If things go wrong, then stall them long enough for the SWATbots to surround and capture them.}

Rouge scanned the ground again, the robots were hidden from view and without knowing that they were there, no one would be the wiser. Just ahead were the mountains, and the appointed place. Looking closer, she could pick out a form standing near the rocks.

As she approached, the one became two, and the darkness of the object became a familiar black and a light brown.

{Score two suckers.}

* * *

Rouge swooped down and landed about 20 metres from the waiting pair. The three of them moved closer together and stopped when only a metre separated them.

"Princess Sally I presume."

"That is correct, and you are Rouge, world famous 'treasure hunter'."

"Ah, so you have heard of me."

"Naturally, but of course, what I know of you is that I should stay away from you."

"Well, I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted, so for your sake, I'll take that as a compliment."

Sally smirked. "Fine. Now let's get down to business. As Shadow had told you previously, we need someone who can collect Power Rings for us. Now we can do it ourselves, but we do have other things to worry about, so we're looking at hiring. He has also told you about your payment. When we defeat Robotnik, you be granted a part of the royal treasury, equivalent to several chests, depending on your performance."

"Yeah, I got that part."

"We also have a little test."

"He mentioned that too. So what do I do?"

"We want to test your collecting skills. These mountains are very hard for collecting because the terrain is rough and hard to get over. We could climb it, but we'd be left totally exposed to Robotnik. We've scanned the area and know that there are rings here. So for your test, we want you to collect some from here, 100 to be exact. Collect them and return as fast as possible, and we'll decide based on your time."

"Only 100? I thought this was going to be hard."

* * *

Sally pulled out a stopwatch and told Rouge to go, pressing the button atop the chronometer. Rouge quickly leapt up and flew away, heading up to the mountaintops, scanning them for any signs of glitter.

The mountains were wide, but rings were to be found most anywhere, usually one here or one there, but sometimes there would be a line of them together. Swooping around the rocky cliffs and peaks, Rouge collected whatever she could. She plucked rings from the tips of the peaks, to narrow crevasses in the cliffside and even those floating in mid air.

She moved with both grace and agility, showing off to the pair below. Performing tight loops to collect small rings of rings, sharp dives to grab long vertical columns of rings, and some sneaky sideways gliding to slip rings out of some very tight gaps.

Rouge was keeping a mental count of her ring total: 40, 50, 60… Her math was pretty good, but under the circumstances, it was better to go over, so she would intentionally miscount a ring here or there to make sure her real total was greater than her mental total.

80, 90, 100.

* * *

Sally pressed the button on the stopwatch as Rouge touched down.

"Let's see how many you got." 

Rouge placed the rings on the ground, and Shadow started to count them out loud in groups of ten. "106."

Sally looked at the watch, "8 minutes, 19 seconds. A fair time, I suppose."

"Fair?" Rouge was a bit upset with Sally's ranking. "That was pretty good for 100 lousy rings, plus I had a few extra."

"A few extra doesn't make up for an average time. Shadow here could've done it in under 3."

"3 minutes? If he's so fast, then why do you want me?"

"Frankly, I don't know why. It was Shadow who recommended you in the first place, and I'm a little disappointed in his choice."

Shadow was getting defensive. "She has skill, and I can't collect all the rings we need."

"I think you're just trying to be lazy, or maybe you had ulterior motives." Sally glanced back at the bat. "Perhaps she's offered you a bit extra for putting in a good word. Money? Then again, she looks like a tramp, perhaps she…"

"How dare you, you stuck up little prissy face!" Rouge stormed up to Sally. "How dare you make such wild accusations?"

"Just look at you, I'm surprised you haven't 'bust out' of that outfit already. I bet you revel in having guys ogle you, and you probably don't hesitate at an opportunity for a little playtime in the sack either."

"Me?! What about you? For a princess you certainly don't look the part. If anyone is desperate, it's you girlie; you don't even bother wearing pants, apparently it would take too long to take them off."

"You would dare speak to me like that, you harlot!"

"Harlot? I'll go you one better, whore!"

Sally was really pissed of now. "You bitch. I should hire you just so I can command you to strip and let my men have their way with you!"

"As opposed to yourself?"

"You DARE imply that I'm some trashy street walker?!"

"Maybe, unless you wanted me to put out for you, your choice."

"That's it! I'm not putting up with you anymore! I order you to leave this forest and never return!"

"You can't do that, you don't run this place anymore."

"I am princess Sally Acorn, and what I say goes!"

"But you've been deposed, this place is run by Robotnik now, not you."

"I am still princess, and if I ever see you again, I'll personally have you tortured and have you screaming for mercy, before I finally put out of your misery."

"Talk is cheap, so perhaps you'll find these actions louder than your words." Rouge whistled.

Sally looked around as all about her Robotnik's robots crawled out of hiding, surrounding the trio. They levelled their weapons at Sally and Shadow. The princess stood with her jaw dropped as all routes of escape were cut off. Shadow remained stalwart, aware of the situation, but seemingly unconcerned.

The dark one glanced to the bat. "So, this is what you had up your sleeves?"

Sally turned to Shadow. "What are you talking about? You knew about this?"

"No, but I figured that she wasn't being totally honest."

"Then why in Hell didn't you say something before?"

"You wouldn't have gone along with it if I had any doubts. It was a risky gambit, but I had to try."

"Sonic wouldn't have been this stupid."

"I never knew him, but I figure he would have just taken Rouge to Knothole. How smart would that have been?" Shadow grimaced. "Don't worry, I'll get us out of this."

"How?"

"How indeed?"

Sally and Shadow turned to Rouge.

"You can't escape, there are too many robots around. And if you so much as move one foot, Blackie, they'll take you out before you can blink."

Shadow looked again, and sure enough, most of the robots were finely tuned on him. "At first I considered grabbing the both of you and using you as a hostage, but if Robotnik is the way I think he is, they'd probably just kill you along with us."

"Well, I had better make sure that doesn't happen." 

Rouge took several steps away, leaving the pair alone in the line of fire. Several of the robots moved out of position as the large yellow truck came rolling into the clearing.

"I'm sure you know what this is; it's a portable roboticizer. Much smaller than the original and able to go most anywhere, yet just as effective."

Sally stood in shock of the device; she knew that Dr. Robotnik had created a miniaturized version of that demonic machine. This one certainly didn't look as menacing as the large conglomeration of machines connected to the glass chamber that she had previously seen, but if the result was the same, it was equally terrifying. Shadow had never seen the original model, but he knew what it was capable of.

"Now, here's the deal. You could just reveal the location of Knothole, and then we could skip this nasty roboticizing business. Otherwise, in you go." Rouge said with a chirp and a smile.

"You heathen!" Sally stormed up to the bat.

Some of the robots adjusted their aim towards the princess, but none of them fired, they were ordered to take her alive; as flesh or as a robot, that didn't matter. Shadow stayed put, knowing full well the consequences.

"I will never betray the others to a bitch like you."

"Maybe we should just forgo this and toss you in right now. Or perhaps you want to apologize." Rouge made half a step closer to Sally, placing her left foot in front of her. "Bow down and kiss my feet. If you'll be my slave, I'll let Robotnik keep his payment, and you can keep your skin."

Sally scowled. "Over my dead body."

"You might prefer that to what they have in store for you."

Rouge chuckled and brought her finger to Sally's nose, then gave it a flick. Sally didn't even flinch, but she flickered. The finger passed right through her nose, and for a few seconds, it seemed to flicker in and out of existence.

"What is this?"

Sally smirked. "Sorry, but that hair appointment was back on and I couldn't miss it, so I sent this hologram in my place. Then again, people like me really shouldn't be associating with people like _you_ in the first place."

Rouge was furious. "You stuck up bitch!"

"Hey, I used a top quality hologram for this, high resolution and thermal patterns, so don't be too upset. I could have just sent a postcard." The image sneered.

Rouge screamed and ran over to Shadow, scratching at his face. Shadow stood his ground, and her nails went right through their intended target, with the same result as with Sally's nose.

Shadow's shadow laughed.

"You slime! How dare you."

"You're right, it wasn't very nice. But considering the friends you brought, it was definitely well deserved."

Sally called Rouge back. "I've wasted enough of my valuable time with you, I'm scheduled for a shampoo and set. So long, as if."

The image of princess Sally flickered and vanished, leaving only Rouge and Shadow.

"You… You!"

"Yes, me, me. I must say the princess certainly didn't take to you very well at all. I think you need to learn some manners; perhaps a few lessons on bowing, or curtseys, whatever it is ladies do."

"You set me up!"

"Whatever." Shadow's image started to fade.

"You come back here!"

"I'm sorry Rouge, but simply put, we just can't trust you." The image of Shadow started to flicker as it dimmed. "Allow me to give you some advice. I suggest you fly away, fly fast, fly far. Because if we ever meet in person, you'll be doing the rest of your flying through the fires of Hell."

The image completely faded, leaving Rouge to stand all alone.

"Rouge?! Rouge, answer me you stupid bitch!"

Rouge reached down to her boot and took out her communicator. "Show a little respect."

"Respect?! You blew it! You can forget about your bonus."

"Oh no you don't. I'll get them soon enough. No one humiliates me and gets away with it."

Robotnik grunted.

"I'll find those jerks, even if I have to track them down the old fashioned way. And if you want them, you had better pay."

"Of course I still want them, but frankly, I never put much faith in the 'old-fashioned way'. You'll need some help, perhaps an upgrade or two."

Rouge wondered what he meant when she looked up and saw the SWATbots surrounding her.

"I think you could benefit from a few little modifications, jet propulsion, high powered SONAR… SWATbots, take her to the roboticizer. Since they no longer trust you, you are no longer of any use to me, as flesh and blood."

"No!"

Rouge fought back, taking out a couple of the SWATbots with a few well-placed kicks. She tried to fly away, only to be tailed by half a dozen buzzers who swarmed her, attempting to strike her down with their foot long stingers.

"Get away, get away!" Rouge's aerial acrobatics managed to avoid them, but only for so long, when one had rushed her and planted its large spike into her side.

Rouge squealed, then started to flutter about with the end of the long metal pole in her torso. The pain was excruciating, but soon it started to fade as her whole body started to go numb. With no control over her wings, she fell unceremoniously to the ground.

Speaking through one of his robots, Robotnik taunted the bat. "A paralysing agent, quite effective, and fast. You should thank me, I hear that the roboticization process can be quite painful; this way, you won't feel a thing. Throw her in!"

Rouge was barely conscious as the SWATbot carried her to the yellow van with heavy steel armor and various warning signs. A heavy door opened on the side, and she was tossed in.

The robot pressed a few buttons on a console next to the door.

On the display, the text read:

Roboticization process commencing—powering main capacitors.  
Error: Power disruption—check power conduits before proceeding.

"Dr. Robotnik, there is a problem with the roboticizer, it is malfunctioning."

"Of course it's malfunctioning, this thing was built broken!"

The robots looked up to see Shadow standing on the yellow machine, offset from the blue sky by a slight green tinge.

"Emergency procedure: Initialize anti-Shadow attack subroutines."

"Finally, you got the name right." Shadow's green aura flared. "Too bad!"

Shadow charged at the robots, tearing them apart on contact, leaving behind only a green zigzagging trail marking the positions of the SWATbots around the roboticizer. The buzzers tried to shoot at the green blur, back to no avail. Instead Shadow plucked the flying stingers out of the air, and threw them back at their projectors. As efficiently as ever, the whole troop was decimated in seconds.

Shadow stopped and scanned the area; content that there were no more robots he called out. "Alright! The coast is clear!"

Sally, Geoffrey, Rotor and about six more from Knothole emerged from nearby and approached the hideous contraption; one of them went to collect the rings Rouge had dropped. After checking the spot where their holograms stood, Shadow came over to them.

"Your highness, Nicole, quite the incredible little contraption I must say. Those holograms almost fooled me."

"Thank you, Shadow. Scratch two dozen robots, score one portable roboticizer. Rotor, do you think you have all the parts you need for your 'deroboticizer'?"

Rotor and the others were prying open panels on the machine. "I think so, but we won't know until we get home with what ever we can carry, we can't drag this sucker through the woods, that's for sure."

"Just make sure there are no tracking beacons on it that Robotnik can follow."

Shadow joined Geoffrey who had been working on the door. After some work, they got it open, and pulled Rouge's limp body from inside.

Shadow hisses through his teeth. "A nasty gash, that's for sure."

"She knew the risks when she took this job. It doesn't look life threatening, but we had better get her back to Knothole as quickly as possible anyway."

"Right." Shadow picked her up. "See you guys, later."

Shadow sped off and was soon out of sight. Geoffrey checked on the others, then looked over in the dirt and cast a sneer at the communicator that Rouge had dropped.

"O.K. people, we don't want to be out here any longer than we have to."

To be continued


	13. Chapter 4: What a Girl Wants

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 4: What a Girl Wants**_

Back in Knothole, Rouge had been given a bed at the hospital and was recovering from the poison in her system. Slowly she was regaining consciousness, but was still very weak.

"Hey there Sweet Thing."

Rouge looked over to see Shadow standing next to the bed.

"Oh no, it's you again."

"Nice to see you too."

"Haven't you tortured me enough? First you try to steal my rings, then you so rudely interrupt my shower." Rouge then looked down and noticed her clothes were missing, but she was wearing a hospital gown. "Then there was the meeting with a holographic and _very_ rude princess, followed by my being hunted down and almost roboticized."

"If I said 'I'm sorry', would it help?"

"No."

"Then I won't bother."

"So why are you here? To make sure I don't blab anything to Robotnik? Or perhaps you're here to humiliate me some more?"

"Neither, I'm asking you if you'll join us."

"What? Is this a joke?"

"Absolutely not." From behind Shadow came a female voice, and Sally walked in, followed by Geoffrey. "We still want your help. Besides, thanks to a little bit of acting, Robotnik thinks you're one of us anyway."

Geoffrey added a funny comment. "I played a mean Othello in the high school play."

Shadow glanced back. "To be, or not to be?"

"That's Hamlet."

"Who cares? Shakespeare was a hack anyway."

"Would you two be quiet?" Sally stood next to Rouge. "Look, we still want you to help us."

"What? You must be joking. Why would you want my help after I tried to sell you out to Robotnik?"

"Because we can still use your help. We still need someone who can collect rings quickly and efficiently, and you fit the bill."

"And how do you know I won't try to sell you out again?"

Sally looked back. "Shadow?"

Shadow stepped forward. "Because if we catch you going anywhere near Robotropolis, I will personally tear off your wings and feed them to you, and that's just for starters."

"Point taken."

Sally moved in front of Shadow again. "We'll give you sometime to consider it. If you refuse, Shadow will take you out of the Great Forest and you can be on your way, but you are never to return."

At this point, Rouge had little to say, so Sally, Shadow and Geoffrey left the room.

Rouge folded her arms behind her head, considering their offer. She half wanted them dead after they humiliated her earlier, but they also saved her life. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all; perhaps she could get more out of them than they bargained for.

* * *

The next morning, Rouge headed to a nearby river for a bath; unfortunately, this one would be under armed guard. It was bad enough when Shadow was watching her, but now she had two guys watching her. On the other hand, she wasn't worried that these two geeks might decide to rush her and have their way with her.

Their orders were to watch Rouge and make sure she didn't try anything funny, such as trying to run or fly away. But when you're a woman with an incredibly well developed body and especially well endowed breasts being watched by two strange guys while taking a bath, just about every movement to wash while hiding your assets seems funny.

The pair tried to keep serious, but lets face it, Rouge is hot.

Eventually they were joined by a third who signalled them to leave. They soon left after giving a brief report.

Rouge didn't notice the change as she had kept facing away from them, but every so often, she would take a look back just to make sure they weren't closing in on her. She noticed they were gone and replaced by one.

"Seems _you_ can't get enough of me."

Shadow smirked. "I guess not."

Rouge quickly checked her clothes that were on a rock directly in front of her. Content that they were safe; she continued her bath. Quickening the pace, now more than ever she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

"So, have you decided?"

Rouge tilted her head slightly. "You mean whether or not to help you?"

Shadow didn't have to respond for Rouge to get the answer for that question.

"I don't know; I've never been involved in a war before. Although I want to get Robotnik for what he tried to do to me, I really didn't appreciate the way you used me, despite the fact that you were right not to trust me." Rouge sighed.

"You're not the only one who had that decision to make."

"You? Now that I think about it, it seems strange that someone like you would be taking on this role, fighting for a good cause, you seem more like me, looking out for #1."

"At one point, my petty desires were all I wanted. Then came Robotnik. He destroyed the only thing I knew; I guess in some sick way, I owe him for that. Because of him, I was left distraught and directionless. Soon after, he would hurt me again, this time, I responded with rage."

Shadow paused as he recollected the two fateful events that turned him from his hatred of Sonic and into the fold of the Freedom Fighters. Rouge had stopped washing herself and simply sat in the water, waiting for Shadow to continue.

"Eventually, I found myself back in Knothole. Here, everyone had felt just like I did, like everything was lost."

"It was when Robotnik killed Sonic, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. They felt as if they had all died when they saw Sonic's body. I realized, not just yet, but I soon realized that we were very much alike. I would soon have my own reason to hate Robotnik, and I understood the depression they felt. So I helped them."

"I never had anything to take away."

Shadow looked at her.

"When I was young, I didn't have anything, I was just a poor little girl. I never knew my father, he left when I was a baby, and my mother was hardly the picture perfect model of a loving woman."

Rouge stifled a tear.

"She was a piece trash, more concerned with her latest boyfriend or a bottle of cheap booze than her own daughter. To her, having a good time was more important than your own flesh and blood. She was nothing more than a piece of ass for any good-looking guy with a bank account. I don't even remember her name, and I'd kick myself if I ever did. I hope she died in a gutter!"

Shadow looked on, trying to consider what Rouge had told him. A strange thought crossed his mind. "Are you making this up?"

Rouge demeanor changed very quickly. "Actually yes. Her name was Lisa and she was a very caring person. But I never knew my father, that part was real. He left us shortly after I was born, and mom tried her best to raise me, but we were still very poor. As I grew up, I promised myself, I wasn't going to let any dumbass jerk me around, and I was going to be rich. I learned fast, and soon was able to scam anybody around, no one was going to get the better of me."

"So, you wanted dominance and money."

"Yeah, to make up for all the things I put up with before. I deserved it."

"That would explain your good storytelling. So, just what did Robotnik offer you?"

"He said that he'd leave me alone if I collected as many rings as I could. He didn't need them, but he knew that you guys did. He also promised me a big bonus if I ever found Knothole for him: Jewels, gold, silver; whatever was leftover from Mobotropolis after he took over. Then he said he wanted you, he'd give me anything I wanted if I just found out about the source of your power, or better yet, to deliver you to him in person."

"Hmph. I'd say he was biting off more that he could chew with that request."

"Well, I was beginning to wonder if he would deliver, I've had a few bad run-ins with people like him; it didn't help much when you turned the tables on him."

"I couldn't let him get the better of me you know."

"I'm going to get him for that, no one backstabs me. Although I am still surprised that you came back for me, despite my being a spy."

"We didn't come back for you, we needed the parts from that 'roboticizer'." Shadow chuckled a bit. "But your being a spy didn't matter, we would have saved you either way. Besides, I knew who you were working for; so the opportunity came up to really frazzle him, and convince you to join us instead."

"You knew the whole time I was a spy?!"

"Not in the beginning, but they say it takes a thief to catch a thief. I am very untrustworthy, so when I made the proposition to you to help us, you set every one of my alarms off. At the other river, when I snagged your clothes I found the communicator that Robotnik had given you. We listened to your conversations with him before the meeting."

"You really are incredible; I didn't suspect a thing, you seemed like every other jerk I ran into."

Shadow smirked. "I'm not normal, so most people have a tendency of getting the wrong impression, least of all how cunning I can be, especially since it was Sally's plan to begin with."

"I'll have to congratulate her later."

"I don't think she goes for that 'boot kissing' bit you seem so keen on."

Rouge gasped in horror at the statement, though much less after seeing the coy smile on Shadow's lips. "I don't kiss anybody's boots. Which reminds me, just how did you get my communicator out of my shoe?"

"You had the communicator on for receiving transmissions, I didn't have to open your shoe to find it, or to get its frequency."

"Such an amateurish mistake." Rouge grinned at her previous error. "You're as sneaky and conniving as I am. We'd make an interesting team."

"'Interesting' would be the right term I suppose."

"Why don't you blow this joint, we could be great. With my talent and your powers, we could become the richest people in the world."

"I have little use of money or luxury. Besides, unlike your story, I wasn't bullshitting you. I have found a place here, and I'm not leaving until Robotnik is defeated."

"Well, a girl can dream."

"But you do have a point, we could be quite the pair. You said it yourself, I am rather like you."

"No kidding." Rouge thought about it. "So, are you really going to make your proposition again, knowing full well that I cannot be trusted?"

"I think we can trust you now, to a point. Even though we don't have anything to offer you, other than we won't stab you in the back if you don't."

Rouge giggled. "Well, that's almost enough, but you do have something that I want."

"And what would that be?"

"I, the great Rouge the Bat have three desires: Gold, jewels, and…" Rouge turned to face Shadow, and stood up, letting the water only come up to her knees. With her right hand, she motioned Shadow to join her.

{Would I actually go for some hot chick standing naked in a shallow pool of water, taunting me to join her?}

Shadow leapt in. "Hell yeah."

* * *

Although the conversation between the pair was supposedly private, from behind some bushes, someone had taken notice.

Bunnie quietly pulled away from her roost. "I'm gonna kill that little whore."

END OF ACT II


	14. ACT III: DOUBLE JEOPARDY

**Act III: Double Jeopardy**

**A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction by Black Mantle**

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Shadow now finds himself in a heap of trouble, not from Robotnik, but from two others; one who has him mixed up with his blue double, and another taking a keen interest in his Chaos Control powers.

I'll be trying to make these two in character, but even I'll be taking my own personal stance on them. There are a few more characters mentioned in this act, all of which are Sonic characters from either the games or the SatAM/Archie comics storyline, but since they are only briefly mentioned, I make no claims on weither they're in character on not.


	15. Chapter 1: In Search of a Test Subject

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 1: In Search of a Test Subject**_

Buried deep under Knothole was a chamber about the size of a small house. Inside, between the layers of earth that made up the ceiling and floor, illuminated by a series of soft white lights around the perimeter that passed itself of as walls, several citizens of the village above had gathered.

Sally, Geoffrey, Shadow, Bunnie, Rouge and a few more had gathered and were examining the large machine that took up most of the room. Rotor had been busy working on the device, but had paused to converse with the others.

Sally stood with her arms crossed in front of her, shivering; it was not from cold, but from the look of the monstrous machine before her.

Geoffrey walked up behind her. "Are you alright?"

"It looks just like that infernal machine." Sally almost couldn't look at Rotor's invention. "I only saw it once, but I'll be damned if I ever see it again."

Shadow noticed Sally across the room, but decided it best to let Geoffrey handle it, despite the fact that he believed the skunk had all the tact and sensitivity of a truck hurtling down a steep hill. He'd ask her outside.

Eventually, Sally called the group to attention.

"I don't have to remind any of you as to the extent of Robotnik's evil, or what he's capable of. One of his most terrifying inventions was the 'roboticizer', a devious machine that could transmutate living tissue to metal. Ever since, we have been trying to find a way to negate the effect, to restore the metal, back to flesh."

Everyone was paying close attention to Sally, as well as the frailty in her voice; she was one of the few to ever see the roboticizer in action and not be roboticized herself. Bunnie felt a chill running up her spine; though no one but Shadow and her knew, she was to date the only one ever roboticized, and subsequently deroboticized.

"Rotor says that the device is finished, but right now, we don't really know if it works. We need a test subject."

Everyone started to look back and forth at each other, but eventually all eyes started to focus on one individual.

"Alright I'll do it, if for no other reason than to get away from all you people for a while!"

* * *

In his tree house, Shadow was getting ready to head out when Bunnie came up to him, as almost always, Rouge was already there.

"I want to ask yah something."

"Sure."

"Privately."

Shadow glanced at Rouge. 

"What? You can't tell me?" She realized that she wouldn't convince them otherwise, and shrugged her shoulders as she left.

With the two alone, Bunnie asked. "Shadow, yah saved me when I was roboticized, but why don't yah tell anyone? Yah could do anything that machine could, yet yah don't tell them, and leave them to build that monstrosity."

"Because they're too dependent on me as it is."

"But it would be easier."

"No!" Shadow snapped back. He collected himself and continued his explanation.

"You don't remember what they were like. After Sonic died, they were totally lost, and for a while, so was I. If they become too dependent on me, they'll never be able to live on their own. They'll become just like they were back then."

"Are yah saying yah plan to leave?"

"I argue that within myself a lot. There are times when I just want to pack it in and leave them behind. But more than that; Sonic died, so could I. If anything happens to me, they'll be lost, just like what happened when Sonic was killed."

"Yah actually care for them."

"I understand them, that's all."

Bunnie smirked. "And I was worried yah might be getting soft."

* * *

Back outside, Shadow met up with Sally before he left.

"Sally, are you O.K.?"

"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?"

"You were acting real fidgety around the deroboticizer earlier, is there anything you want to talk about?"

"No, no, nothing."

Shadow didn't want to stop there, but he knew it would be futile to press any more. He was about to leave when Sally spoke again.

"I saw that thing, up close."

Shadow stopped to listen, but didn't turn to face her. Neither did she to him.

"A couple of years ago, Mobotropolis was a beautiful place; it was clean, lots of trees and gardens, you'd swear it was heaven. That was before Dr. Robotnik arrived."

"At first, he seemed a very strange man, but there was nothing sinister about him. He was almost a clown, a circus ringleader that demonstrated his technical prowess with these interesting gadgets and gizmos, unlike anything seen before. It was kind of fun to see the odd little metal shapes come to life and do various mechanical dances. I once spent three hours admiring a strange ballerina robot doing her moves." Sally choked a bit. "It looked so real."

Shadow could almost picture what the younger Sally would have been amazed by.

"One day, he invited the royal family, me and my father, to a tour of his lab. Of course, being king my father was too busy, but I went with Julayla."

Shadow interrupted. "A friend of yours?"

"She was my retainer; with my being a princess, she was the closest thing I had to a real friend."

Shadow returned to simply listening.

"Anyway, the two of us were being given the full tour of his mobile lab. It was rather large, about 5 times the size of Knothole; I couldn't believe that it was able to move. In the center of his lab was a most unique device, a large conglomeration of equipment centered around a large glass tube, large enough for a person to stand in. Once we stood before it, was when everything changed. Behind us, two of his creations, which he called SWATbots, had come and grabbed us."

"He then called my father to declare war on Mobotropolis. At first, he was totally aghast at Robotnik's insolence, and that he had taken me hostage, but what I saw next was proof that he was totally serious. As an ultimatum, he took Julayla, and put her in the machine." Sally could barely proceed, and her voice was breaking up into tears. "He turned it on, and in a few moments… she was no more."

Sally cried, and then stifled back the tears.

"Standing in the tube, was a robot where Julayla was. It looked like Julayla, but it was no longer her. It was a mindless machine that now served Robotnik's every whim."

Sally stopped to cry some more.

"He told my father that he had one hour to surrender Mobotropolis to him, or he'd lose his only daughter too."

"He wouldn't give in, but he only had one hour to save me. He readied his army in secret and sent Geoffrey to rescue me. I think Robotnik knew all along my father wouldn't comply, because he had readied his robot army."

"Father sent his forces to attack while Geoffrey snuck in. Robotnik revelled in seeing the futile attempt being crushed under the might of his robots; I can still hear his laughing. But his laughing stopped; Geoffrey had found his way in and was dispatching his robots. Robotnik was quite impressed with his tenacity and skill, so much so, that when Geoffrey had broken me free, he just let us go without a fight. He ordered his robots to close in, but more to scare us off, rather than to kill us."

"But as we left, I heard that laughing again, that sickening cackle. He called to me, and told me to watch. Before I left, he summoned Julayla forward, and to prove his domination over her…" Sally voice was filling with rage. "…he ordered her to rip her own head off."

Shadow's eyes shot open in terror.

"I swore as Geoffrey dragged me out, that I would do to him, what he did to her."

The two stood back to back, Sally engulfed in rage, Shadow in fear.

"Don't you have to go somewhere?"

Shadow walked away, and whispered under his breath. "I won't let you down."

* * *

Shadow wandered through the forest, trying to keep his mind on his mission, though he was constantly distracted by what Sally had told him. He almost couldn't believe just how callously indifferent to life Dr. Robotnik was. It was one thing to fight a war, but to be so ruthless as to order someone to kill themselves.

He didn't know that he could ever possess such hatred towards one person before, but more and more, he was coming to despise Robotnik with every fibre of his being.

As Shadow paced through the woods, he failed to notice someone following him.

"Found you."

* * *

Elsewhere, Rouge had been searching around on her normal daily task of tracking down rings. As she flew overhead she looked down to see someone wandering around in the forest. Based on the erratic pattern the individual was walking in, she figured that whoever it was, was totally lost.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

The stranger turned around, a very unusual person to be out alone in the middle of the forest. It was a young hedgehog with pink fur wearing a red sundress.

She responded in a very youthful voice. "Maybe you can. Do you know where I can find 'Knothole'?"

"Knothole, yeah, I'm from there!"

"You are! What incredible luck. I've been looking for that place for years!"

"You've been wandering around these woods for years?"

"No silly, I only just got here yesterday. But I've been on the road for the last six months."

"Six months?"

Rouge was wondering why anyone would want to travel six months to come here, especially with Robotnik causing trouble. It would certainly be much safer and happier to stay where you were.

"So what brings you to our neck of the woods, or to these woods, period?"

"I've come to find my true love, the greatest hero in the whole wide world!"

Rouge's face went pale. Here was a hedgehog looking for the greatest hero in the world, calling him her 'true love'. If she left six months ago and hasn't heard about what's transpired in the last four months, then this was really bad news.

"So you're here looking for…"

"The totally awesome SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!"

Amy pulled out a huge banner sign that read: "ULTIMATE I LOVE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG FAN CLUB!"

"I'm Sonic's number one fan! So much so that I created my own fan club of him, of which I'm the only member of course, since I'm the only one who loves him this much."

Rouge was standing in total shock.

"Now, can you tell me where I can find Knothole?"

"Yes, but I have some rather bad news for you."

"What is it? He isn't married, is he?!"

"Not quite that bad, he's dead."

Amy looked at Rouge in amazement. "Dead? What do you mean dead?!"

"Dead, as in dead and gone. I mean deceased, dearly departed, late, passed on, no more, bereft of life, and resting in peace. He's gone towards the light, passed through the pearly gates, gone off stage and joined the choir invisible. He is an ex-hedgehog."

[Author's Note: In memory of the late Graham Chapman, the Monty Python alumnus who wrote "The Dead Parrot Sketch".]

Amy stood there, trying to assimilate what Rouge had said.

"What the Hell are you talking about, I just saw him a minute ago."

"You saw him?! Wait, was he black with some bits of red and a white chest?"

"I only saw the black part as he was speeding by over there, wrapped in a green light." Amy pointed out in a rather general direction.

"That's not Sonic, that was…"

"Don't give me that nonsense, no one can move like Sonic."

"I'm telling you, Sonic's gone."

"Well! If you're going to be like that, I'll just have to find Knothole myself!"

Amy stormed off.

"Shadow ain't gonna like this."

* * *

Shadow eventually found some of Robotnik's robots, accompanied by some of Mobotropolis' roboticized citizenry. Shadow triggered the Chaos Control and jumped into battle.

The robots turned to see Shadow racing towards them in his full green glowing glory.

"Emergency procedure: Initialize anti-Shadow attack subroutines."

"Don't you get bored saying that?" 

Shadow charged into the robots with the intended effect. With each robot, he hit it with a punch or kick; charged by the Chaos Control, the effect was deadly against the mechanical opponents. He made sure to only strike the robots and none of the roboticized people, knowing full well that they were once alive.

Within seconds, all of the robots were decimated, leaving a handful of the desired zombies still standing.

"Alright, I need one of you. Any volunteers?"

The lot of them charged the hedgehog with intent to kill.

"It nice to know you're all really eager, but I only need one of you." Shadow sprinted out of the way of the oncoming horde.

The robots looked around for Shadow. Once they spotted him they moved in again.

"Time to put a stop to this."

The Chaos Control flared, and Shadow ran right through the mob. He didn't attack, but simply zigzagged through them, letting the wake of the Chaos Control blast them back. Shadow stopped and looked behind him at the six robots now lying on the ground, not destroyed, but not fully functioning either.

He went back and selected one of them. "You'll do."

As he approached, he heard a twig snap in the forest in front of him, then looked forward to see the stranger that was tailing him.

"That was pretty impressive. Have you always been able to do that?"

"No offence buddy, but that's not the kind of question I like answering."

"Then what kind of questions do you like answering?"

Shadow crossed his arms. "None."

"Figures."

Shadow looked into the trees to try to make out the figure of the stranger. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Frankly, I don't like that kind of question."

"Answer it anyway."

The character humphed. "I was looking for you."

"I see. Should I be honoured, or worried?"

"It makes no difference to me."

"Then why are you looking for me? Do you even know who I am?"

"It doesn't matter who you are, but you have something that I'm looking for."

"What?" Shadow was getting angry. "Who the Hell are you?!"

The stranger walked out, his fur was a fiery red and circled around his head like a pair of wings on the down flap. He wore sneakers and gloves, much like Shadow did, but on his hands were a set of claws that seemed to grow out of the back of his hands. On his face was a menacing stare.

"My name is Knuckles."

To be continued


	16. Chapter 2: Disaster in Red

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 2: Disaster in Red**_

Shadow looked over the echidna standing before him. He certainly acted tough, and frankly he looked like a thug.

"Look, I don't have time to deal with the likes of you. I'm on a mission, so if you'll kindly wait here, I'll get back to you in an hour or so."

"Is that so? I take it that your 'mission' has something to do with these… toys?"

"They're not toys. And I have to take one back home."

"Really, which one, this one?" Knuckles looked down at the robot closest to his feet, and with a raised fist, slammed down on the metal creature, destroying it.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"I don't like it when people tell me that I have to wait. Besides, what so special about these tin cans anyway? You sure did a number on them already."

Knuckles turned and destroyed another of the disabled robots. Shadow ran up and pushed Knuckles back.

"Those aren't normal machines, they are… they were living beings! We're trying to help them."

"And how do you know that they want to return? And if being a machine is so bad, then I'm just putting them out of their misery."

Shadow's eyes burned with fury. "You insensitive jackass! I ought to rip you apart like you did to them!"

"That was your fault. I'm not a very patient man, so I don't like being told to wait. I came here on a mission of my own, and it takes precedence."

"And who decided that?!"

"Me, of course."

Shadow was really ticked off, and wanted so desperately to simply kill the murderer. But instead, he held off; he wasn't sure why, but perhaps he could get rid of him more easily if he just heard him out.

"So, just what are you looking for?"

"To most the name escapes them, but I'm looking for something called a 'Chaos Emerald'."

"You're right on one point, I haven't heard the name before. And what makes you think I have this 'Chaos Emerald' of yours. Come to think of it, I don't recall ever stealing anything, so why would it be yours?"

"I never said that I owned it, I just want it. And it's clear that you have it, I can feel it."

Shadow thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. Would this 'Chaos Emerald' be a bright green and about yeah big?" He opened his right hand to give Knuckles a general idea of the size of the object he was describing.

"Now you're catching on."

Shadow chuckled. "Well, I've got some depressing news for you, Red. I don't have it anymore."

Knuckles was a little upset at Shadow's declaration. "Don't try to lie to me, I know you have it, and that you have it on you now."

"You don't seem to listen very well. That gem is long gone, it has been for months."

"I see. You only think it's gone, but if it was, then you couldn't perform that nifty little feat of yours. You still have it, weither you know it or not."

Shadow looked at the stranger with a questioning glare.

"I've seen this before, the power of a Chaos Emerald being absorbed into a person. Sometimes they just absorb some of the energy from the gem while they hold it, but others have absorbed the gem itself, granting them permanent use of it's capabilities, provided they can find someway to power it."

Shadow stood in awe, for the first time, he had some real understanding as to where the Chaos Control came from. He knew the Chaos Emerald had triggered it, but he couldn't determine the connection between it and the Power Rings. When the Emerald shattered, the pieces fused with him, and ever since they drew energy from Power Rings to power the Chaos Control.

"Well, it looks like you came all this way for nothing."

"On the contrary, I still want that gem, even if I have to take it from your hide."

"What?!"

"I've been searching for those gems because of how dangerous they are, which I'm sure you already know fully well. Now, we could do this the easy way; if you come with me, I might be able to extract the shards from you and you get to live."

"And the alternative?"

"The hard way involves me beating you into a bloody mess and taking the pieces from your mangled carcass."

"You come here, interrupt my mission, kill two people, and then expect me to do things the 'easy way'? Well I've got news for you! I need this power, and I'm not letting you take it from me! Besides, I love doing things the 'hard way'!"

"Good, those extractions are really tough, but it's so much easier when you don't care if the subject lives or dies. And it's just so much more fun ripping idiots apart."

Shadow's green aura returned and flared. 

He charged at the echidna, and from inside the green world of the Chaos Control, he threw a punch at Knuckles' face. Just as his fist reached the target, a bright yellow flash appeared before his eyes, and from his right, a blinding glare came to his face and struck him square on the chin.

The black hedgehog rolled towards the trees and stopped just before hitting one. Kneeling on the ground, he rubbed his jaw as he looked forward. Knuckles was enveloped in a bright red fire, much like the green aura that Shadow had.

"I should have known you'd have it too."

Knuckles laughed. "Hardly, my 'Master Control' is far more powerful than your pitiful Chaos Control. Now, since you've realized your blatant error, I'll give you an opportunity to change your mind you moronic insectivore. But if you want to get yourself killed, then by all means."

Shadow was simply too enraged to even consider backing off, and instead charged again. This time he was weary of Knuckles and tried to avoid a counter attack. He ran forward and tried to punch again; this time he connected, but Knuckles succeeded in blocking the attempt. Shadow pulled back to avoid the counter attack and also succeeded in his defence.

Running in a wide arc, Shadow tried to attack again, with the same result: a blocked attack followed by an evasion of the counter. The pattern continued for a few more assaults. Outside, it looked like a green light was drawing a flower pattern around a red center. Each time the two met came a yellow flash.

The two were at a virtual stalemate, but Shadow knew one thing: he couldn't keep this up forever. His power was fuelled by Power Rings, and he knew he would run out in a few minutes. If he couldn't stop Knuckles soon, he'd have little ability to fight him.

Shadow charged the echidna and unleashed a fury of punches, but everyone was blocked as expertly as the last. After the barrage, Shadow scooted away, but Knuckles didn't throw the counter that he was expecting. Shadow pulled away a bit, ready to try another assault when Knuckles did make his move. With the few seconds he had to prepare, Knuckles summoned a bolt of energy and threw it at the unsuspecting hedgehog.

"Thunder Arrow!"

Shadow didn't have a chance once he saw it. The bolt of lightning hit him full on and tossed him backwards into a tree.

"You certainly didn't put up much of a fight, more like a fly buzzing around my head, just waiting to be swatted."

Shadow was having trouble standing up, that last blow had almost knocked him out. He was barely able to pick out the form of the red devil before him, readying another blast. He had lost the Chaos Control and had little option but to try and phase away.

Shadow disappeared just as the bolt tore through the tree he was resting on.

"What the Hell?! Where are you?"

Shadow was resting behind another tree, just within sight of Knuckles. He looked back, trying to regain his strength, watching the hunter as he paced around. The echidna in question was a bit flustered; Shadow had slipped away, and he couldn't find any trace of him. Feeling around, he could sense the Chaos Emerald, it was close, but he couldn't track it. With the Chaos Control turned off, Knuckles couldn't pinpoint Shadow's location.

Shadow stood as quietly as possible while Knuckles searched around, when he came too close, Shadow phased again to another tree. After a few minutes of this, Shadow was feeling a bit rested, but still very weak from the beating he took. He could hear Knuckles searching around the area behind him. Turning his head, he ventured a look, which would prove to be a mistake. Knuckles saw Shadow's head peeking around the tree and fired another Thunder Arrow. The blast obliterated the tree, but Shadow was able to evade.

He was totally out powered and almost defenceless, with no other option; Shadow engaged the Chaos Control and simply ran for it. Knuckles' red aura flared and he gave chase.

* * *

The green and red comets raced through the woods, dodging trees and leaping over rocks.

Every move that Shadow made, Knuckles could match; Shadow had speed, but Knuckles' Master Control gave him the edge over the Chaos Control. The only thing Shadow seemed to have going for him was that Knuckles couldn't use his Thunder Arrow while racing through the woods; he'd probably have to stop and charge it, giving Shadow enough of an opening to escape.

{Damn, if only I had an attack like that lightning bolt of his, I might have a chance against him. I wonder if the Chaos Control comes with something like that, too bad I don't have time to find it now.}

The prey took a quick glance back to see that Knuckles was still behind him, but to him the red warrior appeared as a blazing yellow flame, like the sun itself was chasing him.

{Then again, if I don't get away from him, I won't get that opportunity.}

Before him Shadow noticed some hint of help, a line of Power Rings. Shifting his direction a bit, he managed to snag all four rings. With the four rings in his possession, he could already see the Chaos Control feeding off the power in them. Reaching in behind, Shadow pulled forward a small pouch; inside, the Power Rings he already had were all but gone.

{Oh no.}

Shadow was running out of time; his Power Ring supply was almost gone, and he was no further away from his pursuer than when he started. He took a quick look back and saw the bright yellow flare following him, matching his every move. He took a desperate second to consider his escape route, and the brightness of the sun behind him.

{If he looks like that to me, then I must stick out like a sore thumb as well. He couldn't find me earlier, except with a bit of luck. Alright, time to break out.}

Shadow pulled a hard 180 and came back at Knuckles, missing him by a metre and continuing to run. Before Knuckles could do an about face, Shadow dropped out of the Chaos Control, releasing the energy in a giant splash that spread green light like a tidal wave in every direction, and then launched into his phase run, pulling a quick right turn.

By the time Knuckles had doubled back to where Shadow pulled the switch, he was long gone. With the Chaos Control off, and the large amount of background radiation left behind when Shadow released the Chaos energy, Knuckles had no way to determine which direction Shadow had run in.

"It seems you have some skill after all, at running away. Next time, hedgehog." 

To be continued


	17. Chapter 3: Disaster in Pink

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 3: Disaster in Pink**_

Rouge floated back to Knothole and started to search for Shadow; hearing that he had returned, she quickly trotted to Bunnie's hut. She opened the door and was shocked by the sight before her.

"Oh crap! What happened to you?"

Rouge walked over to Shadow who was half covered in bandages and Bunnie who was playing nurse. Although there didn't seem to be any serious injuries, the bruises that covered his form suggested volumes of a story.

"I had a run in with the devil."

"Then I guess you're too occupied to hear my news then."

"That depends, is it serious?"

"Not really."

"Good, then I want to hear it; it'll take my mind off of 'him' for a while."

Rouge sat down in front of Shadow. "There's somebody looking for you."

"If he goes by the name 'Knuckles', tell him I'm not here."

"No, you've got someone else on your tail, or more specifically, on Sonic's tail."

"What, and old friend of his?" Shadow shrugged his shoulders, and quickly let them fall as the pain shot across his back. "With my luck, it's probably an enemy of his."

"Yah shouldn't go squirming like that, su-gah." Bunnie checked the bandages running over his upper torso, then massaged the area. "How's that?"

"Hmmm… better."

"I wouldn't say it was friend or foe in this case, but it seems that Sonic had a fan club, with a membership of one."

"Small fan club."

"Yeah, well this one member is very anxious to met the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog. Not only that but this member happens to be a hedgehog as well; a female hedgehog; a very _amorous_, female hedgehog."

"Well my day just went to Hell. Couldn't you stop her, tell her what happened to him?"

"I tried, and did, but she wouldn't believe me. Before I saw her, she had seen a stranger running like the wind through the forest. And you can guess who it was she saw."

"She thinks I'm him."

"Yep. I tried to explain it to her, but it seems that she didn't know what the real Sonic looked like, so she saw you and is convinced that you're him. She called me a liar for telling her that Sonic is dead."

"You didn't tell her where I am."

"Of course not, but she already knows about Knothole, it's just a matter of her finding it."

"Well, that should give me some time."

From outside, a voice almost totally muted by the hut's walls echoed through the air. "Sonic?"

Rouge smirked. "Not as much as you think."

* * *

Amy was wandering around Knothole asking around if anyone knew where Sonic was, but she was mostly prancing around in a love-drunk stupor, imagining her fateful meeting with the master of speed.

"Sonic!"

"Excuse me, but would you please keep your voice down, this is supposed to be a secret base."

Amy turned, and standing before her was the love of her life. "Sonic!"

She immediately ran up and gave him a hug. Resulting in a horrid scream from the huggee.

"Watch it, that's a very sore spot."

"Oh Sonic, I'm so sorry." Amy goes off by herself for a bit. "I finally meet my hero and I almost kill him."

Shadow stood in shock at Amy's odd behaviour, but snapped out as Amy charged back.

"I'm so very, very sorry. How can I make it up to you? Oh, I haven't properly introduced myself; my name is Amy Rose, and I'm your biggest fan in the whole world!" It was here that Amy took a pause to notice Shadow's current condition. "What happened to you? Did someone do this? If so, I'll make them pay."

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down, let me get a chance to get a word in edgewise."

"I'm really sorry."

From behind Shadow, Rouge and Bunnie walked up.

"You!" Amy charged the bat. "So, he's dead huh? What do you have to say now?!"

"Go play with your dolls little girl." Rouge shrugged her off and moved to Shadow. "Are you alright?"

Bunnie didn't approach Shadow at first, but instead stood behind Amy and whispered. "Look at her, droning all over him."

"A ha! So that's it! You want him all to yourself, so you try to throw me off the trail!"

"Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"You won't get away with this!" Amy pulled into her best anime pose and brought out a massive mallet, holding it above her head with one hand. "Pico Pico Hammer!"

Rouge jumped back just in time to avoid the mighty hammer. She leapt again to avoid a side sweep from the pink weapon. Another strike almost got her as the thief tripped and fell backwards, only to have the cylindrical steel block crash right between her legs, just rubbing her breasts and inner thighs on the way down.

"Die you Sonic-stealer!"

Amy brought the hammer down one more time, but Shadow got up to stop her, only to be paid in kind with a face full of metal.

"Sonic!"

Shadow's form slumped to the ground.

"Oh no! What have I done?!"

Bunnie came up from behind and picked up the severely injured hedgehog, who was mumbling in his catatonic state.

"What hit me…"

"A really mean woman, named 'Amy'."

"My Cleveland uncle in Grover told me that trouble are women…"

"Perhaps he was right."

"I gay he was think. I never liked really him…"

"To each his own."

"Are a you woman…"

"No, I'm a lady."

"Oh, like I then you…"

* * *

Back inside, Bunnie was placing more bandages on Shadow's head when Rouge entered.

"She's out there bawling like a two year old wanting her mommy."

Bunnie cast a sharp glance in Rouge's direction. "The nerve of her, coming in here and claiming Shadow for herself."

"Exactly." Rouge looked at Shadow. "How are you?"

"Considering I almost got killed twice in one day, I'm pretty good. So what going on with her?"

"Total panic. But how would you feel if you came thousands of miles to meet your hero and almost killed him?"

"I wouldn't know; I don't have any heroes. Just nemeses." Shadow rubbed his head. Outside, he could barely make out Amy's whining. "That does it!"

Shadow got up and tore the bandages off, then stormed out the door.

* * *

Sitting on a bench, bawling her eyes out was the pink hedgehog who came here seeking her great hero.

"I'm a total screw up. Why did I even come here in the first place?"

"Amy?"

The girl looked up to see the black hedgehog standing before her, seemingly much healthier than before.

"You, me, now!"

Amy was a little shocked by the declaration, but went along with it. She took his outstretched hand and his grip tightened firmly. Before Amy could figure out what was going on, Shadow hit his phase run and they were soon out of Knothole.

* * *

"Where are we?"

"I wanted to go somewhere quiet to talk, but then, talking hasn't been much good so far."

"Huh?"

Shadow turned slightly, then reached out with his right arm and pointed down to the ground next to them.

Amy looked down at the simple wooden cross, planted in the earth; etched on it was a name: "Sonic the Hedgehog".

"But, what? Who?"

"My name is not 'Sonic', he died about four months ago. My name is 'Shadow', and I suppose you could say that I'm his replacement."

Amy was totally dumbstruck; she had come many miles to find Knothole and her hero whom she had heard great tales of far and wide, but she arrived to find that he was gone. She didn't move, she didn't speak, she did cry; it was all too much for her to really understand.

"Amy?"

Shadow got no response.

"I'll leave you alone. When you're up to it, Knothole is a few hundred metres back that way."

Amy didn't flinch, and stood there in shock.

Shadow passed behind her and headed home, leaving the pink hedgehog with her hero.

Amy stood solemnly with tears rolling down her cheeks. "How did this happen?"

To be continued


	18. Chapter 4: Out of the Frying Pan

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 4: Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire**_

Shadow was back in Knothole and passed princess Sally.

"I heard you got in a bit of a tussle earlier."

"You could say that." Shadow rubbed his chin where Knuckles gave him his first surprise.

"Do you think he's in leagues with Robotnik?"

"I don't think so, but if that maniac ever found out about what that other maniac did to me, you can bet he'd be most interested."

"What about your Chaos Control, couldn't that stop him?"

"It could have, but it seems he has use of it as well, and his seems to be more powerful. Worse yet, he's got skill, real skill. The guy is a fighter, a bruiser to no end."

"Then what does he want?"

"He wants me, or more specifically, he wants the Chaos Control. It's power came from a gem called a 'Chaos Emerald', and he's looking for them. My power was triggered when I absorbed one of them, and now he wants it, even if he has to take it out of my hide."

"Is he trying to become even more powerful?"

"No, he seems more like an overanxious cop trying to do his job. Considering how powerful the Chaos Emeralds seem to be, I can see why they should be kept safe."

Sally sighed. "This is bad. If this joker shows up while we're fighting Robotnik, he can cause a lot of problems."

"No kidding. It seems that he has the ability to track the Chaos Emeralds too, which means he can track me, at least while I'm using the Chaos Control. I turned it off and ditched him, so hopefully his 'Radar' won't track me here."

"We have to do something about him. Can we convince him to leave us alone?"

"I doubt it."

Sally and Shadow stood silently for a moment.

"Speaking of tracking you here, I understand someone else has done just that."

"Yeah, a girl named Amy. She came here looking for… for Sonic." Shadow was about to continue to describe how heartbroken Amy was when she saw the grave, but he looked up to see the depression on Sally's face and realized that she knew a lot better than he could describe.

Sally let out a very verbal sigh. "At least you're alright." Sally muttered a bit more, but it was totally incoherent. Slowly, she started to walk away, leaving Shadow by himself.

* * *

Shadow was sitting down with Rouge and Bunnie in the latter's (formerly Sonic's) hut, eating a vegetable soup that his host had prepared.

Rouge swallowed another mouthful before putting her spoon back in the bowl. "So is Amy still out there?"

Shadow stopped from blowing over the hot soup. "I haven't seen her come back yet."

Bunnie also took a pause between scoops. "It's been over an hour. Maybe yah should go check on her; in her current state, who knows what she'll do."

"Speaking of mental states, I just had a brief run in with Sally."

Rouge's interest was piqued. "Really? She's been a total 'Gloomy Gus' ever since I met her. She must have taken Sonic's death pretty hard."

"Very. I only saw her briefly beforehand, but she's clearly a different person now, and I think she's getting worse."

Bunnie was getting concerned. "Yah don't think she'd…?"

"I have no idea." Shadow sighed. "After that first battle, she almost called me 'Sonic'. To be honest, if I'd help her at all, I'd almost pretend to be him."

Rouge frowned at him. "That's not funny."

"Of course it's not funny, but I'm serious. Ever since I came here I've been trying to differentiate myself from him. I'm starting to wonder if it'd be just as well to become him."

"Now you shut up, that's no answer. If you want to help Sally, then she has to come to grips with Sonic's death." Rouge was almost scolding Shadow, but returned to her normal voice. "Now we've got two girls roaming around who are in the dumps over Sonic's death. What do we do?"

Shadow snapped his fingers. "That's it, we kill two birds with one stone. We get Sally and Amy together."

Bunnie looked at him very strangely. "What?"

Rouge was also rather dumbfounded. "I think you're grasping at straws. Trying to turn them both into lesbians is not what I consider an answer, no matter how much fun it would be to try."

"Here's what we do; we take Amy, paint her blue, and get her a sex change operation."

Bunnie was totally lost; having grown up a farm girl, "lesbians" and "sex change operation" simply flew over her head.

Rouge thought that this answer was even dumber than the previous, and decided to humour Shadow by not pointing out the more obvious flaw. "Now where around here are we going to get blue paint?"

"How should I know? I'm 'grasping at straws' here."

"Then go back to the homosexual plan, at least that was the slightest bit reasonable."

* * *

The three eventually finished lunch and walked out, planning on finding Amy. They didn't have to go far when they saw the pink hedgehog in question heading towards them. Shadow pulled ahead to meet her.

"Amy, are you O.K.?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I came so far, only to find I came too late."

"You're not the only one. I came here to challenge him, to prove that I was the fastest thing alive, not him. One race was all I had; he just edged me out, and I never had a chance for a rematch."

"I never got to meet him at all." Amy pouted a bit, and kicked a small rock at her feet.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Well, I suppose my Sonic fan club is pretty much kaput. But I'm going to hang out here for a little while."

"You are?"

"Yes; after all, how am I going to get my 'ULTIMATE I LOVE SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG FAN CLUB!' off the ground if I leave!"

Amy threw up a giant banner; it was the same one that she showed Rouge earlier, but with the name "Sonic" crossed out and the name "Shadow" written in with crayon.

Shadow could feel the headache about to hit him head on. "You're going to start a what…"

Amy's formerly happy self returned. "I'm going to start the greatest fan club, devoted to the greatest hedgehog in the whole wide world!"

Amy leapt up and wrapped her arms around Shadow's neck. "Isn't that totally awesome?!"

{Maybe Knuckles will come and put me out of my misery.}

Behind Shadow, Rouge was not pleased with this turn of events. "I'm gonna kill that bitch."

Bunnie wasn't too pleased either, and started to plot the demise of both females.

* * *

Amy spent several hours following Shadow around, trying to find out about as much of him as possible. In a way, it was a bit refreshing having the girl trying to figure out everything about him _without_ drawing any hint of comparison to Sonic; but that lasted about 12 seconds before her chirpy voice simply became annoying.

"Shadow?"

"What?"

"What is your favourite food?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later…

"Shadow?"

"What?"

"Where are you from?"

"Baltesaria."

"Thanks."

A few more minutes later…

"Shadow?"

"What?"

"Do you like long walks under the moonlight?"

Shadow found that question a bit odd. "Not really?"

"Thanks."

An additional few minutes later…

"Shadow?"

"WHAT?!"

Tails fell over.

"Sorry, kid; I thought you where Amy."

"Who?"

"I'll explain later. What is it?"

"You gotta see what I saw."

"Is it far from here?"

"Kinda."

"Is it easy to get to?"

"Well, I had to fly, but if you can get up a tree you should be fine."

"Perfect!"

Shadow left and leapt from treetop to treetop, with Tails leading the way. Being able to fly, Rouge followed and took up a position in the rear. Back on the ground, Amy saw the trio heading off.

* * *

After about 20 minutes and several miles of trees, Tails, Shadow and Rouge came to a halt in a tall oak.

"What did you find?"

"Look over there." Tails pointed towards the mountains to the south. "It's the Dorondagandor mountain range."

Rouge smirked. "Interesting name."

Shadow glanced at her. "Try saying it five times fast."

"I couldn't say it once."

"The tallest is Mt. Tomak, but what I want to show you is that one."

Rouge tried to follow Tails' hand, but the distance was too great. "Which one."

Shadow studied the mountains. "You mean the second to the left of the one with all the trees?"

"Yeah. I've seen those mountains lot of times, but that mountain was never there before."

Rouge turned to Shadow. "How'd you spot that one?"

"The mountain is a slightly different color than the others; plus, it's moving."

Both Tails and Rouge were in shock, and looked back. Tails had to ask. "What do you mean it's moving?"

"I move far faster than most anyone else, so I'm used to looking at a world that seems to stand still. But that mountain is moving, ever so slightly." Shadow clenched his teeth in anger. "And if I'm right, I know exactly who I'm going to find there."

* * *

Shadow, Tails and Rouge headed towards the horizon to find the strange mountain that had appeared. When they arrived some two or three hours later, what met their eyes was beyond anything they ever saw. Just beyond the range, hovering over the lake on the other side of a thick forest was a large mass of earth, an entire island simply floating in mid-air.

Tails looked up upon the mass. "Oh wow!"

Rouge was equally astounded. "Where in the blazes did this come from?"

Shadow was the only one who didn't outwardly exhibit any signs of shock. "One thing is for certain, somebody put it there."

Rouge turned to him. "Where do you get that idea?"

"It wasn't here before, so it had to move here. And if it was moving, then something had to stop it. And since there's no sign that it crashed into anything, I'm guessing someone made it stop."

Tails landed next to Shadow and Rouge. "But who is controlling it, and how does it stay up."

Shadow glared. "I have a good idea. I can feel the power emanating from it. It's like a power that I felt recently, but much stronger. Knuckles definitely has something to do with this."

Rouge's eyes returned to the floating island. "So do we go up and say 'hi'?"

"No, I don't want to face him on his home turf, I want him down here."

"And how do you propose to do that."

"The same way he found me before. Chaos Control!" Shadow's form was engulfed in a green flame that simmered to a slight glow. "Alright Red, where are you?"

* * *

"Computer, have you finished analysis on this 'Knuckles' character?"

"Affirmative. Energy readings are similar to the energy exhibited by 'Shadow', but their harmonics and wave mechanics operate at different frequencies. Also, the mean energy level of 'Knuckles' is 56.9% higher than 'Shadow'."

"Excellent. Rouge was a bit of a disappointment, but perhaps this newcomer could be of greater use to me."

To be continued


	19. Chapter 5: Disaster in Green

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 5: Disaster in Green**_

It would not take long for Shadow's call to be seen. Soon, a red comet left the island and descended to the clearing below. Tails and Rouge had hidden behind some trees.

"So, have you come to give yourself up?"

"No, I came here to tell you and that eyesore of yours to buzz off!"

"You seem to have even more nerve than before. I figured our last meeting would have taught you some manners."

"The only manners you'll get from me is a brief silence at your funeral."

"You can't defeat me. You lack the skill and power. What makes you think you can best me now?"

"Because I can't afford to lose. En guarde!"

* * *

Amy finally made it to the mountains and was trying to pick her way through the woods when she saw the flashes of green and red light in front of her.

"What's going on over there? A battle? Shadow! Hang on, I'm coming!"

* * *

The battle was growing more and more heated with each passing minute. Shadow knew he couldn't go toe-to-toe with the echidna, he was simply too skilled a fighter to duke it out; but he couldn't stray too far or Knuckles would pick him off with his Thunder Arrow. Without a few good attacks of his own, he played it defensively for the most part; keeping some distance between Knuckles and his knuckles, while moving in to throw off the lightning attack. Shadow could only hope that Knuckles would make some error that he could exploit, but such opportunities were few and far between.

Knuckles was starting to get impatient, the speedy hedgehog was dancing around and barely giving him a chance to get a good fix on him. For the most part, Knuckles held his ground, knowing full well that he could never catch the hedgehog on foot, despite his Master Control being mightier than the Chaos Control. Occasionally, when Shadow would get close enough, he'd try to lunge at him, but to no avail. His main attack was to rely on the Thunder Arrow, but Shadow was able to stay just ahead of it. He hoped that the constant running and dodging might tire the black one out, but Shadow was built for speed and showed no sign of faltering.

The stalemate between the two powers continued for four minutes, but each passed like an eternity, with both combatants looking for an opening while trying not to leave one for their opponent. Tails and Rouge stayed behind their trees, watching the show from a safe vantage point. Neither noticed Amy coming up the path.

"Alright you red furred freak! Leave Shadow alone!"

Everyone turned to see Amy wielding her Pico Pico Hammer over her head, ready to plunge into battle against the red demon attacking her new hero.

"Amy?!"

Knuckles didn't pay as much attention to Amy as Shadow did, and used the distraction to his advantage. Firing his Thunder Arrow at his dark opposition, Shadow saw it too late to avoid it, and could only block as it hit dead center.

"Shadow!" Amy turned her attention to Knuckles and charged him. "Die freak!"

Knuckles easily avoided the rage-induced assault as the hammer came down on empty ground, missing the intended target by a long shot. The ground at Amy's feet trembled under the huge force of the blow. Knuckles was impressed by how much power the girl hedgehog could muster with her weapon, but her skill with it was seriously lacking.

"Go home little girl, before you really get hurt."

"And let you hurt my true love, never!"

Rouge was seething at the teeth. "'True love', the nerve!"

"Then you asked for it." 

Knuckles charged Amy, who picked up her hammer and prepared to continue her attack, but Knuckles was too quick and launched his Thunder Arrow. Amy was blasted back and tumbled on the ground for several metres.

"Stupid hedgehogs. What makes them so brazen anyway?"

Knuckles turned his attention back to Shadow, whose fist was now within inches of his face.

The impact caused Knuckles to stumble back by a few steps as Shadow's other fist impacted his stomach. The echidna lurched forward, but recovered before Shadow's third punch connected, and he intercepted it. With Shadow's hand caught, the red warrior executed a perfect judo flip to send him to the ground.

Knuckles brought his fist to the ground at Shadow's face, but a quick roll gave his opponent nothing but dirt. The black hedgehog returned to his feet and charged Knuckles with his phase run. One phase put him right behind the echidna, and Shadow got him with a quick jab, though to Knuckles, it was more like a slap. Knuckles tried to counter, but Shadow had phased again, and was again to his side, giving him another quick hit. Shadow continued the quick series of strikes on his opponent, phasing in and out, not giving Knuckles a chance to return the favour. Although Knuckles couldn't hit Shadow, Shadows rapid-fire strikes weren't doing much damage.

Knuckles was getting furious, having his last hit from Shadow, he jumped up into the air and came down with his fist aimed to the ground. Upon impact, the earth below seized up in a giant crash, knocking Shadow back to the ground.

* * *

Back behind the trees, Rouge and Tails were getting restless. Amy was down and out and Shadow had been beaten back, it was time for action. Rouge flew straight at the echidna while Tails grabbed some rocks and went airborne. Knuckles saw Rouge coming in and quickly dodged her flying kick. The bat turned around for another go, but found Knuckles running straight for her; one punch to her stomach brought her to ground, and a slam to the back of her head sent her face into the soil.

Tails tried throwing the rocks at Knuckles, but he avoided them easily, then answered back with his Thunder Arrow, hitting Tails with pinpoint accuracy.

Shadow had noticed how badly things were turning out. "Get out of here! Rouge, Tails! I'll get Amy!"

Tails collected himself and started to drift away. Shadow made a quick pass at Knuckles to give Rouge a chance to do the same. After Rouge had made off, he doubled back and picked up Amy and her hammer.

Knuckles made after him.

* * *

Shadow activated the Chaos Control, hoping to get as much speed as possible, but with Amy's added weight, top speed was not something he could do. Knuckles fired up his Master Control, and the hunt was on.

Shadow was not making good time, and little by little, Knuckles was catching up. As they sped through the forest, Amy regained consciousness.

"Shadow?" She looked around to see the world before her enveloped in a strange green energy. Trees were reduced to reverberating bars of black; the sky was like a neon green mist floating overhead. "Where are we?"

"Inside the Chaos Control. See that yellow flare behind us, that's Knuckles."

Amy glanced back to see the yellow comet chasing them. "He's gaining on us."

"I can't run as fast, you're too heavy."

Amy did not like the implication of her weight. "I am NOT too heavy."

Shadow didn't want to fight with Amy on the point; he was too busy just trying to maintain the speed he was going.

"Why are we running?" Amy picked her hammer back up. "Let's go back there and beat the snot out of him!"

"Are you kidding?! We almost got the snot beat out of us!" Shadow looked forward, then a strange idea hit him. "Maybe you've got a point. Get that hammer of yours ready, we might be able to do some damage after all."

Amy had a big smile on her face as she contemplated what they would do to the red terror. Up ahead, Shadow saw a narrow tree trunk, just large enough to hook his hand around it.

"Grab my hand."

"Why?"

"Do you know what 'crack the whip' means?"

Shadow took Amy with one hand, grabbed the tree with the other, and swung Amy around like a pendulum. Once a half-turn was complete, Shadow pushed forward with all the might he had and sent all the power of the Chaos Control into Amy, rocketing her forward in a green blitz. Shadow fell out of the Chaos Control and stumbled to the ground while Amy was shot towards the oncoming red light.

Knuckles looked up and saw the manoeuvre, but he had no time to react; by the time he realized what had transpired, Amy was flying at him at high speed, screaming her lungs out, her Pico Pico Hammer pointed straight forward.

POW!!!

A bright flash of yellow lit up the forest, and from the shock came a burning red comet, fired back from where it came. It flew between and through the trees for more than a mile before coming to rest, leaving a swath of destruction pointing to the resting place.

* * *

Shadow, Rouge and Tails had come together at the impact point, looking for Amy. Stuck onto the side of a tree was the pink hedgehog in question. Her head slowly leaned back, and in a cartoonish peel take, she fell off the trunk and onto the ground.

Shadow ran up to her to see if she was O.K. "Tails, take her home."

Rouge asked, "And what are you going to do?"

Shadow picked up Amy's hammer. "I'm going to finish off that freak."

* * *

Shadow followed the path and soon found Knuckles, a bloodied mass slumped over what was once a tree. Shadow approached him, preparing to deal one massive blow with the hammer when a female called out to him.

"Stop!"

Shadow looked up to see another echidna standing over knuckles, this one had peach colored fur and wore a simple dress with a series of complex shapes decorating the edges.

"Who are you?!"

The female answered in a sombre, almost ethereal voice. "My name is Tikal, and you must stop."

"Why should I?!"

"Because you have done enough damage for one day."

"I don't think I've done nearly enough to that jerk."

"Knuckles was only doing what he thought was right."

"He was still trying to kill me."

"Go home, for you will destroy us all."

Shadow hesitated when he heard the statement. "What do you…"

He never got an answer. A bright orange flash later, and both echidnas were gone.

Shadow gazed at the ground, the only trace left of either of them, were a few spots of spilled blood.

* * *

Back in Knothole, Amy was resting in the hospital, with Shadow holding a vigil over her. Slowly, her eyes flickered an opened.

"How are you doing?"

"Shadow! You were watching over me."

"Yeah, yeah!"

"My hero."

A hint of disgust crossed Shadow's face. "Would you stop that, I'm nobody's hero."

"But you went into battle and defeated that red loser."

"That's not what makes a hero. Now listen to me. Why did you come here?"

"I came here to find you."

"No, you came here looking for Sonic, because of what you heard about him, not me."

"But he's gone."

"That's not the point. You came here as a fan of Sonic, then once you found out he was dead, you decided to become a fan of me. And where does that leave Sonic?"

Amy looked at him, wondering where Shadow was going with this.

"You came here for Sonic, shouldn't you be here for him, not me."

"But how do I do that? He's dead."

"He may be physically gone, but his memory still remains. If you don't want to betray him, then keep his memory alive."

"But I never met him."

"Then talk to someone who did."

Shadow got up and walked out, as he did, someone else entered the room.

"Amy?"

"Yes?"

"Hi, my name is Sally."

* * *

Shadow waited outside the door for a few minutes to listen in on the two women. 

Geoffrey was standing next to him. "They both sound a little better."

"Yeah."

"But you don't look so hot."

"Tikal left me a very odd message, and I'm trying to figure it out."

"What was it?"

"Something that would only have meaning to me. Tell me something, I didn't want to ask Sally this, but just what was Sonic doing out there on the night he got killed?"

"Honestly, he was out looking for you."

"That's what I thought."

* * *

Shadow left the hospital and starting thinking to himself.

{Sonic died because I drew him out. If Knuckles had appeared while we were battling Robotnik, then it could have been a disaster. What if I'm nothing more than a black furred version of him?}

END OF ACT III


	20. ACT IV: AT THE EDGE OF OBLIVION

**Act IV: At the Edge of Oblivion**

**A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction by Black Mantle**

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Shortly after Shadow's rather unpleasant run-in with both Knuckles and Amy, the latter turning out a bit better than the former, he heads home for some rest. But soon, it all comes back to haunt him, and he finds out more about the strange echidnas.

Tikal appears again and has a significant role, but I can tell you now that she is not the same Tikal that was in Sonic Adventure (DX on the GameCube this summer). In my version, she's one of these ethereal priestly characters, who possesses a strange ability to see that which is normally not seen, a psychic if you will.

This differs from the Tikal in the game, but I have to admit, I haven't played it in such a long time that I barely remember what she's really like, other than her role in the game. In short, I'm pretty much writing this character from scratch, personality wise. If somehow I get it close, it's by dumb luck.


	21. Chapter 1: The Nightmare Returns

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 1: The Nightmare Returns**_

{_Go home, for you will destroy us all…_}

It was late in the evening, and for the last four days there was one phrase that echoed through Shadow's being. He was hoping that he heard it wrong, that she didn't just say he would destroy everything; but no, the phrase stuck with him so securely, he couldn't have mistaken it.

{She said "for", that's the word she used. She didn't say "or", it was definitely "for". Why would should say that?}

Shadow had been totally distracted by the declaration. The word "for" made it so fatalistic, like he had no choice but to destroy everything, that is was only a matter of time before he would. "Or" would have been so much nicer, it was conditional, it could be prevented, but not "for".

"You're still not going to tell me what's on your mind, are you?"

Shadow looked behind him to see Rouge there. He didn't need to look, he knew the whole time that Rouge was there, she always seems to be, but he looked anyway. Without answering, he turned his head back; that would be his answer.

Rouge moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, avoiding his spikes. "You're going to tear yourself apart over this, if you keep this up."

"That's probably better than what might happen."

Rouge didn't have an answer for that, until Shadow would tell her more, there was little she or anyone could do. But that wouldn't stop her from trying.

"Come on, it's getting late, and I think I know what can cheer you up."

"It hasn't worked the last few nights. Why would it work now?"

"I've got a few things I'd like to try."

* * *

It was early in the morning and Shadow was asleep in his tree house. For most of the night, he was constantly slipping in and out of a very light sleep, waking up at least five or six times through the night.

Behind him he could hear the light breathing of Rouge. She was a caring friend, and a great lover, but her gentleness nor her ferocity were enough to calm the waters; he remained in constant conflict with Tikal's revelation. He so wanted to see her again, to get her to explain herself.

"Shadow."

Shadow looked above him to see a figure standing above him.

"You?!"

Despite the darkness, Tikal's figure seemed to glow in the night, making her easily visible. She stood silently, not moving the slightest in response to Shadow.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have come for you."

"This had better be to explain what you said to me; I've been going up the walls over it."

"I'll show you."

Tikal handed Shadow his gloves and sneakers as he got up from the matting on the floor that he called a bed. The ruckus had alerted Rouge and she slowly awoke.

"Shadow, what's going… Ack!" Rouge brought her arms around to make sure the sheets where tightly wrapped around her. "Who the Hell are you and what are you doing in our bedroom?!"

"We have much to discuss. He is coming with me."

Rouge was getting angry now. "No way, not without me you don't!"

Rouge reached over for her clothes on the floor next to her, but before she could put even her underwear on, the room was flooded in a bright orange light and when it disappeared, Shadow and Tikal were gone.

* * *

Down below, Bunnie had been arguing with herself for the last few hours, and came to a decision; with a strong conviction, she started to climb the ladder to Shadow's home.

"That does it. Rouge or no Rouge, Shadow will be mine tonight. I'll just march in there, rip off mah clothes, and take him right here and now. And if she is there, she'll get a taste of mah foot if she tries anythin'. And I'll show him such a time, he'll never even want to see that tramp again."

Just before the rabbit reached the last rung, the door above shot a brilliant orange glow into the darkness, almost blinding her enough to knock her to the ground below. Shaking it off, she stormed into the wooden structure.

"What happened in here?"

"Tikal happened." Rouge was facing away from the door, putting her clothes on. Her panties were already on and she was putting on her black suit. "She came in here and teleported Shadow away. Wait a minute, what are you doing up here?"

"I saw that flash and came to see what's up."

"That flash from only two seconds ago, I guess rabbits really _can_ jump."

"And what were _you_ doing up here?"

"I think that's pretty obvious."

* * *

Far away from Knothole, Shadow had little choice but to follow the echidna as they walked that darkened streets in a strange land. Although he didn't really know where he was, he could have guessed, and guessed correctly.

"So, this is where you come from is it?"

"Yes."

Shadow was relatively complacent about what was happening, but he still wanted Tikal to say something. "Are there a lot of you here?"

"Yes."

"Are they all echidnas?"

"Yes."

Shadow nodded rather excessively, but he really didn't care what the answer was. "You don't say much, do you?"

"No. I find that when I talk too much, I tend to say things that create trouble."

"You don't say." Shadow spoke in a sarcastic tone, but Tikal seemed to ignore it, like she was a robot that merely parroted answers when asked.

"You are wondering why I told you that you would destroy everything."

"That was sort of on my mind."

"You will find out in due time, so have a little patience."

"I've waited four days already, a few hours more won't hurt, I suppose."

Tikal led him to the center of the village, where there stood a larger building, more like a temple than anything. The pair went inside.

* * *

Shadow eventually found himself entering a large chamber in the edifice; a meeting hall by the looks of it, and his guess was proven true upon entering. Inside was a gathering of dozens of Echidnas. Around the outer rim, most of the echidnas were seated as spectators, not to be involved in the proceedings to take place. Shadow glanced around, the number must have been at least fifty, but out of them, he only recognized one; the red devil that came very close to putting an end to him.

In the center was a large empty area with two tables, a small one with two empty chairs, and the other was large and shaped in a semi circle lined up to the arc of the room. Sitting at that table were seven echidnas, each of them appearing to be older than the other. Tikal bowed to them as she approached the other table.

The elder at the center of the long table spoke. "Shadow, I presume. Please have a seat. I know that this must seem a bit much for you, but there is no need to fear."

Shadow was a bit skittish. "I wouldn't say 'fear' was the correct word." He sat down.

"No, I suppose not." The elder stroked his beard. "Despite its appearance, this is not a trial or inquiry of any kind, rather it is a meeting."

Shadow tried to hide his detestment of the situation by acting polite, but his true feelings were not totally hidden in his voice. "Begging your pardon, but I have heard of such things being called 'meetings' and the like, yet being nothing but a sinister mockery of a 'trial'."

The elder spoke in a calm voice, almost ignorant of Shadow's harsh tone. "I understand, but this is a unique situation. You know why one of our own sought you out earlier; to retrieve a magical gem called a 'Chaos Emerald'."

"Yes, and I still have yet to find the proper location to lodge a complaint regarding that particular event."

"But you are different. You are the first outsider to come to this island in over 100 years, for something that Tikal had accidentally revealed to you a few nights before."

"She said that I would destroy everything."

From the audience, there were a few gasps, obviously from people who were not totally aware of what Tikal had said to him.

"Yes. That is why we needed to bring you here. Tikal has a most unique power; she can sense things that go beyond the normal senses, even beyond thought. We have resided here for many years, and her vision was that you would bring this to an end."

"That seems odd. If I am to destroy this place, why would you bring me here? Wouldn't it make more sense to keep me away?"

"The very reason we bring you here. And that is the exact logic behind Knuckles' attack. He wanted to kill you, to stop you, but such thing is foolhardy. We want you here to stop you from destroying us. There is an expression down below; 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'."

"What, you mean I'm a prisoner here?!"

"In a sense of the word, unfortunate as it is."

"You can't keep me here! I have things to do; I'm in the middle of a war. Plus I've got a girlfriend who I'd like to get back to screwing!"

The elder seemed a little offset by Shadow's scolding, then turned to Tikal.

"He is referring to 'mating'."

"I don't care what expression you want to use, but I don't like being in the sack with a girl and being dragged off!" Shadow turned his attention from Tikal and back to the elders, specifically the middle one who was the only one who spoke. "If you're so worried, why not send me back and you leave!"

"We are leaving, but you'll be coming with us."

"No! You can't just take off with me here!"

"If it would please you, we can retrieve your girlfriend and you can mate with her here. This is a very peaceful place, and I'm sure you'll like it."

"Peaceful?! I don't care if this place is Nirvana, Heaven, and Elysium all rolled into one, you just can't go picking up people against their will!"

"It has already been decided."

"By you?! You overglorified, senile, old bastard, what would you know about being kidnapped and having some allegedly higher force telling you what to do?!"

"We must protect the sanctity of our home, even if it means some inconvenience to you."

"Protect it? Hell, up until now I had no reason to want to destroy it!"

"I would not joke about such things."

"I'm not joking. If you want to protect this land, might I suggest that you send me back where I'm needed."

"You are asking to return to a war zone. We know all about your battle with Dr. Robotnik, and we cannot allow you to return. If you are defeated, then he might gain the Chaos Control power that you now possess. You must remain here where that power cannot be utilized."

"Not be used? Don't you get it; the whole point of power is to be used! You sit up here on your asses, collecting these powers for no purpose other than to prevent them from getting out! I get the whole keeping them out of reach of evil bit, but there is so much that can be done with them, and all you do is lock the safe from anyone who might have a good enough use for it!"

"This power is far too great to be understood by someone like you."

"I think it's too powerful to be understood by you old man!"

For the first time, the elder showed anger, but not just a bit of fury, he snapped. "How dare you?! This meeting is over! I suggest you take heart to our offer and not cause any trouble! Now be gone!"

Tikal stood up just before Shadow was able to leap to his feet. He was about ready to storm over to the other table and give the elder a really large piece of his mind when the priestess grabbed his arm. Her grip was strong, a lot stronger than Shadow would have imagined capable from the silent girl. A look into her steely eyes was enough to calm him down.

"Come, we'll find a place for you to rest."

To be continued


	22. Chapter 2: Life in Captivity

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 2: Life in Captivity**_

Rouge was flying as fast as she could towards the south mountains. Bunnie wanted to come too, but Rouge had shrugged her off saying it would be too dangerous, and that she couldn't fly with the extra weight. After a brief and rude comment from Bunnie about being rather "heavy" herself, Rouge was off.

Bunnie ran out to get Sally and tell her what happened. Eventually a party was gathered to go to the floating island, including Bunnie, Geoffrey, Amy and Tails, the only one outside of Shadow and Rouge to actually see the island.

Rouge was making good time to the mountains, but morning would have already arisen by the time she got there.

* * *

Back at the floating island, Tikal had brought Shadow to a small house halfway between the center of the town and the outer limit. Although it was still pretty dark, morning was fast approaching and after his recent meeting with the elders, Shadow wasn't ready for any sleep.

"You can stay here."

"For how long?"

"How ever long you want. If you don't like it, we can find another place for you."

Shadow was still unpleased and sarcastically added, "How about my old pad at Knothole?"

"If you are trying to joke about this, I'm not amused; and even so, I can't let you return."

"And what's to stop me from trying to split on my own?"

"If you think you could survive the drop you could simply walk over the edge, but don't count on your Chaos Control to help you. Up here, it has been neutralized by the Master Emerald."

"Well that's just great." Shadow had to try; summoning his strength, he tried to call forth the power. "Chaos Control!"

Nothing happened.

"Satisfied?"

"Absolutely not. I don't like being held captive and drained of my power, even though it wasn't really mine in the first place."

"Just calm down, there will come a resolution to this eventually, since you are to destroy us, after all."

"Tikal, why do they believe this vision of your so much? Do you really believe that I would destroy you for no reason? Up until now, I never even knew you."

"They have full faith in the Master Emerald and the power of forbidden sight that I have been granted."

"If they trust your vision so much, then why do they think that they can stop it?"

"All visions of the future are warnings of things to come, so some will believe that it is something to avoid. I do not believe this to be the case. Many will say you are brought here so we can keep an eye on you, to stop you from destroying us, but I brought you here so that you could complete your task."

"You want me to destroy you?"

"No, I would very much wish that you didn't; but this is not what I want, this is what is. Get some rest, we'll talk in the morning, which comes very soon."

"I don't think I'll be able to get any sleep around here, this place gives me the creeps."

* * *

It was less than two hours later when Tikal approached the house that Shadow was in. She entered it like she owned the place and moved to the bedroom where she found Shadow lying down on the soft mattress.

"Shadow?"

The form had started to budge, and slowly rose from the soft bed. "Morning already?"

"We're getting ready for breakfast, and I'm here to escort you."

"I could go for a bite to eat."

Shadow got out of the bed and stretched a bit.

"You seem much more calm than yesterday."

"Considering how you dragged me up here against my will and those elders telling me that I couldn't leave, I couldn't help but be a little unappreciative."

"But you will still try to escape."

"Of course. But until I have a plan, I might as well enjoy myself until your ultimate demise."

* * *

En route to the gallery, which could be likened to a shopping mall, Shadow and Tikal had a run in with one particularly annoying resident of the floating island.

"Enjoying yourself, hedgehog."

Shadow didn't even bother to turn to face the rube. "Hello, Red. My, I really wasn't expecting to run into you up here."

"Can your tongue, just remember that I'm keeping both my eyes on you."

"I'd keep my eyes on the ground and the sky if I were you, this is not a safe place, with or without me."

Knuckles chuckled. "If you're referring to that blimp and his mechanical circus, he's of little concern to us. We'll deal with him like we deal with anyone else who dares us."

Shadow jokingly compared his threat on Robotnik to the way they were treating him. "You'll invite him up for tea and crumpets?"

Knuckles only frowned at the answer, giving Shadow a chance to goad him a bit more.

"Oh, I get it. English food, you'll poison him! That's brilliant, I wish I had thought of it."

Knuckles walked right up to Shadow. "Listen here you punk, if it were up to me, I'd crush your bones into paste."

"Well, I don't think it's up to you. Is it?"

"Don't push me, otherwise I might just ignore what the elders want." With that, Knuckles gave a tough nudge to Shadow's chest.

Shadow wasn't pleased and brought his left fist back for a punch, Knuckles saw it and was about to avoid when Shadow's clenched fingers started to burn. Enveloped in a green bolt, Shadow's fist shot forward faster than he could run, and gave Knuckles a sweet surprise, tossing him back several metres like he had a glass jaw.

"What in the blazes?" Shadow looked at his left hand and the green flame was simmering down and disappeared.

"Just as the Master Emerald can seal your Chaos Control, it can also relinquish it, if it so chooses."

Shadow smirked. "Well, Red, I guess that's 2-1 for me so far. See you at breakfast."

* * *

After breakfast, Shadow and Tikal were walking back to the house that was loaned to the black one.

"That wasn't bad. So what's with desert?"

Tikal didn't shift her attention to the covered bowl in her hands. "It's for a friend of mine who didn't come for breakfast."

"Is he sick?"

"She's been tied up for the last little bit, and hasn't had a chance to get anything to eat."

"So, what is there to do to pass the time around here?"

"When you're not plotting your escape?"

"Something like that, I mean plotting can wear you out after a while."

"I admit there isn't a lot to do up here, but if you wish, I'm sure some of the girls around here would be willing to keep you company at night, including myself."

Shadow almost collapsed in shock at hearing that, especially from this rather reserved and sombre girl. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?! No offence, but considering how 'holier-than-thou' everyone is up here, I definitely would not think this place would be so… so liberal."

"Do not confuse my message, this is not a haven for perversion or depravity."

"It just seems so odd. This whole place feels like one big monastery, sex is not something that I would even think about would happen here."

"Of course it does, but it is mostly for procreation, not recreation. There have been others who have come to this island to claim the Master Emerald; and once, our people were almost wiped out. After that, restoring our numbers became very important so monogamy and sexual inhibition were pretty much ignored. But as I said, this is not a place of perversion, though not expressly forbidden, things like homosexuality and other activities not related to procreation are generally avoided."

"O.K. No orgies; got it."

* * *

The two arrived at Shadow's new home.

"You are still thinking about that girl you were with, the bat?"

"Rouge, yeah, but a lot more than that."

"Come on." Tikal headed for Shadow's bedroom.

"Holy cow, you people have got be total horn dogs, it's still the middle of the morning."

Shadow entered the room, not knowing what to expect, and certainly not what he got. Lying on the bed was the form of a person tightly bound in rope with a gag and blindfold.

"Rouge?!"

Shadow ran over and started to unbind his girlfriend.

"You jackasses! Take this!"

Shadow's kindness was responded with a fist to his face.

Rouge had finished freeing herself from bondage and looked at the jackass she clomped. "Shadow?!"

"This is why I don't do charity work."

"Are you alright? I'm so sorry."

Shadow slowly got up and sat on the bed. "Yeah. How did you get here?"

"I came looking for you; I figured that bitch brought you here to some horrible fate, so I came to rescue you. But their guards saw me coming and caught me. Next thing I know, I'm tied up and left here. Where is here?"

"My new house apparently. Of course, 'prison cell' would be a more appropriate title than 'home' under the circumstances."

Tikal stepped forward. "Here you go, some breakfast."

Shadow slapped his forehead. "'Tied up' I get it now."

Rouge was not too happy, and even more annoyed to see a smile on Shadow's face in spite of the situation. "What's got you so happy?"

"Tikal has a vicious sense of humor if you pay attention."

"She abducts you, and you're happy?!"

"I'll explain later, just eat your breakfast."

* * *

Tikal left Shadow and Rouge to be alone in the house. After Rouge had finished breakfast, she tossed the bowl to the floor and laid down on the bed with Shadow to her right. Both had their arms folded around the back of the heads and were looking at the pure white ceiling.

"So, what are you thinking about?"

"How to bust out of here."

Rouge turned her head to her right. "Why aren't you upset about all this? You seem calm enough."

"Because getting angry won't get me out of here, besides, I think it really bothers that moron, Knuckles if I act like I enjoy this."

"So, do all of these weirdoes have powers like him, the two who jumped me sure seemed to."

"I'm guessing they do, though they're probably not all fighters."

"So, how long do they plan on keeping us here? As if the answer wasn't forever."

"You could probably leave if you wanted to, but as for me, probably when everyone here is dead."

"They sure seem determined."

"It's not quite what you think."

To be continued


	23. Chapter 3: Future of the Floating Island

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 3: The Future of the Floating Island**_

While Shadow was getting acquainted with the house the echidnas had set aside for him and Rouge, elsewhere, someone was making plans for them all.

"Computer, have you analyzed those energy patterns yet?"

"Affirmative, they are similar to the energy readings taken from 'Knuckles', only they are significantly more powerful. The location of the energy source has been traced to the Dorondagandor mountain range; however, the epicentre seems to originate from a location that does not correspond to any geographically mapped area."

"Is it now? Computer, replay video 'Knuckles 2' on the main view screen."

In front of him the large pane of glass lit up and showed an image of a grassy spot in the forest; in the middle was Knuckles, slowly walking towards the camera. From the speaker came a recording of Robotnik's voice.

"So you are Knuckles, I've heard about you."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "So what of it?"

"I have a little business proposition for you. It seems we have a similar foe, he goes by the name of Shadow."

"Shadow is mine, so stay out of it."

"Fine, fine. He's been a pain to me for the last little while, so I would very much…"

"Shut your pie hole fatso, I already know who you are, and I'm not here to help you."

"Please, there is no need…"

Robotnik's recorded voice was interrupted again as Knuckles ran off camera. In the background, the noises of battle raged on for a few brief seconds. The camera was knocked to the ground, showing a sideways image of the grass and the trees in the distance. Soon, the camera was reclaimed as Knuckles pointed it for a close-up.

"Listen here, I'm not here for your pleasure or to do your bidding, and if you cross me, you'll end up as dead as I have planned for that miserable hedgehog. Which might make my job easier since with you gone, he might go willingly. So I suggest for your sake you simply bug off!"

The image disappeared as Knuckles threw the camera to the ground, smashing it to bits.

"I never tire of seeing that rage, it's so… warming. But no matter, I didn't need you, just a sample of your energy readings."

Robotnik turned to a smaller screen displaying a map of the Dorondagandor mountain range, and a blinking red dot in the middle of them.

"Computer, send a probe to scan the area and see what's there. Also ready a division of robots geared for mountainous combat, and another for aerial combat. And prepare transport."

* * *

Shadow and Rouge were checking out their new prison, being given the full tour by their solemn host, Tikal.

Tikal had taken the pair over the whole town and even the plains around it. Only the center of the island was inhabited, around the town were plains of bright grass and small mountains on one side.

The town was circular in nature with most of the roads being radial or axial. The roads were made of gravel, but were mixed with a cement-like compound to hold them together. Houses were placed on plots on the outer rings; they were roughly square and measured to have a nearly equal area. Each house was a simple one story bungalow with enough occupancy for a family of five, and every house was painted some very light color, usually white or ice blue. Every so often, a plot or two amongst the houses was reserved for a small park or some such recreation area.

At the center of town were all the large buildings, stores, a school, a meeting hall, and the temple at the very center. Most of these buildings were also one story and were painted white, save the temple that rose at least twice the height.

Tikal spent most of her time showing the pair the larger buildings and some nearby places, and to ensure that Shadow and Rouge could find their way back to their house. Considering the symmetrical design of the village and the constant white motif of the area, getting lost would be easy; that is until you learned the ways of the colored signposts at each major intersection.

After a couple hours and lunch, Tikal left Shadow and Rouge at a small park. The two sat on a bench as Tikal prepared to leave.

"Now you two are alright by yourselves?"

Rouge just wanted to check. "Yeah, now our house is, over that way?"

Tikal pointed to the same road that Rouge was pointing to. "Follow that road to the left, your house is on the end, on the left."

"Got it."

"Supper starts at the gallery in about four hours, and they serve it for around three hours. I'll see you there."

Tikal bowed and left.

* * *

Shadow and Rouge spent a good hour on the bench, simply talking.

"I must say, this is the best prison I've ever been in."

Shadow looked over to Rouge with interest. "You've been in prison?"

"Well, not really, but I have been in trouble before. I've been in a holding cell awaiting bail; all minor stuff, ended in a fine or had the charges dropped completely. But this is the first time I've been under 'quaint old world village arrest'."

Shadow smirked. "I'm sure you'll fit in very well around here."

"Oh you stop that."

"You're going to have to tell me about those run-ins with the law someday."

Rouge noticed that something was weighing heavy on Shadow's mind. "So what are you thinking about? I somehow doubt plots of escape are what holds your attention."

"The atmosphere here. It reminds me of home."

"You haven't told me about your family."

"I guess I haven't. It was a full enough house, mother and father, and a sister: Patty, Clive and Maria."

"Nice names, and they called you 'Shadow'?"

He smiled. "No, but I'm not telling what my real name is."

"I love a challenge."

"My mom was loving and caring, a great lady. My dad was what you'd expect of him, hard working, always there for me; he showed me how to fish, there was this pond, Malteon I think it's called, had huge bass in it, but I was a kid then, to me a guppy looked huge. Then there's Maria, she was a major pain in the butt I'm telling you. Playing with her dolls, she'd whine for seemingly no reason, usually she'd blame it on me. At first, I couldn't stand her, but one day, I yelled at her, because… I forgot why, I think she wanted some of my chocolate bar. Anyway, she was crying, and I looked at her, and I felt sorry for her; so I gave her some. She took it, and she gave me the biggest smile. I'll never forget that."

"Sounds like you had it good."

"It was pretty good, mind you, I turned out a bit of a punk, so it got on my nerves a bit. But I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Sometimes, I wonder about having a family of my own. This would be a great place to raise a family, wouldn't it?"

"Hold it! If you keep going in this direction you'll be proposing to me."

"'Propose', as in marriage? I don't think so. You haven't heard? They don't have marriages up here."

"Then what do they do?"

"Apparently, they live as one big family. There are no distinct pairs, they don't believe in monogamy, you can go with pretty much anybody."

"No wonder you like it up here."

"Heh heh. They're a little tame for my taste, basically anything that you'd find in the 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' is out."

Rouge smirked. "And you were getting my hopes up."

"Still, this would be a nice place to settle down though."

"O.K. I've had enough, I want the Shadow that I remember, not this Mr. Nice Guy." Rouge waited a second for Shadow to change his persona back. "Now, what are you thinking?"

Shadow's attitude changed from the pleasant peaceful sort to his usually crude self. "I'm thinking about taking you and a few of these echidna babes back to Knothole, killing all the men, and making all the women my sex slaves. Naturally, you'd be the queen of the harem."

"That's more like it. And Sally?"

"Slave."

"Bunnie?"

"Nah, she's a bit young, I'll give her a year before breaking her in."

"Amy?"

"If I don't kill her, she's first."

Rouge giggled. "Come on, we've got a lot of planning to do."

"For what?"

"Going back to Knothole, of course."

Shadow grimaced evilly. "My dream will come true yet."

"Oh shut up."

* * *

As Shadow and Rouge left the bench, they did not realize that they were being intently watched, even though they knew they were prisoners.

Knuckles had been following them. "One mistake, one step out of place, and you are one dead hedgehog; and your bitchy bat will join you in your grave."

* * *

From high in the sky, another was watching.

"Shadow and Rouge are on the island?!"

Robotnik sat back in his chair, stroking his chin. "This could be a problem. Then again, it's probably the echidnas that I'd have to worry about more."

"Computer, have you located the power source?"

"Affirmative, the energy pattern indicates the source is a large stone buried inside the island; its coordinates are being shown on the main display."

Robotnik looked at the display screen, showing the floating island sandwiched between the mountains. At the centre, a red dot was lit up.

"You say that the energy source is a stone. Can you explain?"

"Extrapolating from the energy signature, the shape of the energy source appears to be a large gem more than a meter in diameter and almost a meter in height."

"A gem? Computer, show me the pictures from the first appearance of Shadow."

A number of pictures appeared on the large display screen. Robotnik looked at them and noticed the necklace that Shadow was wearing at the time. Pressing a few buttons, he focused on the stone set in the gold piece.

"A gemstone. If that little one is what gives Shadow his power, then a stone that large would give incredible power."

"Computer, cancel the mountaineering division, put those resources into preparing air transport vehicle #4 and the grounder."

To be continued


	24. Chapter 4: Apocalypse Soon

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 4: Apocalypse Soon**_

After several hours of trudging through the thick woods, the rescue party from Knothole finally made it to the mountains, but now had to deal with a new obstacle, how to actually get on the floating island.

The island itself was not far off the ground, but it was floating over a lake; and although they had brought much rope, there wasn't enough to get them onto the island. Tails could fly, but only had the strength to bring one person at a time, and only if they were light.

They pondered for a few minutes to decide how to get up there. Various ideas of building a bridge or ramp were considered, but such ideas were passed up when they looked up.

Tails was the first to see it. "The island, it's moving!"

Everyone looked to the landmass to confirm that the island was indeed taking off, heading for who knows where. In a futile effort to flag it down, everyone started to scream at it.

"Come back here!"

"Bring Shadow back!"

Bunnie was the only one not interested in having the island return its prisoner. "Take me with yah!"

Geoffrey was the only one not calling out, realizing that it only made him look as stupid as the others. Instead, he looked around, trying to find some last possible effort to get the attention of whomever was on the island. Off to his left, he looked up and saw a swarm in the distance, heading for the floating island.

"Oh no, it's Robotnik."

He whistled to get their attention. "Hold it! We have bigger problems; Robotnik's here. Everyone, into the forest, there's nothing we can do but watch. Tails, fly up to the island and find Shadow and Rouge."

Tails flew off while Geoffrey directed everyone to the trees. Bunnie was not happy with the plan.

"But we can't just do nothin'."

"Unfortunately from down here we can't do anything, so nothing is about the only option we have left."

* * *

Tails flew with all his might to reach the top of the island. Once there, he started to stalk about, looking for Shadow and Rouge while trying to avoid being seen. From off in the distance came a wail of a loud horn. Fearing he had been seen, Tails scooted into a patch of bushes and looked out as more horns were heard, and echidnas scurried about to answer the call. The group were conglomerating at the northeast shore of the island, where the attack from Robotnik was coming from.

Believing he was no longer the attention of the echidnas, Tails left his hiding place and started to search.

* * *

Elsewhere on the island, Shadow and Rouge also heard the wail.

"What's that?"

Shadow listened intently to the noise. "If I'm right, that's a battle horn."

"So, we're under attack. I bet you can guess by whom."

* * *

Shadow and Rouge headed off in the direction of the horns to see what was coming, or more specifically, what Robotnik had sent their way. En route, they were flagged down.

"Shadow! Rouge!"

Shadow stopped and turned. "Tails?! How'd you get here, kid?" Shadow almost kicked himself for asking such a question.

Rouge walked up to Tails. "Tails, honey. Did you come here by yourself?"

"No. Geoffrey and a bunch of others are below, but they have no way to get up here."

Shadow crossed his arms. "Either way, we're still on our own."

Rouge faced him. "I say we find Tikal. Ack!"

Shadow turned to see Tikal standing behind him. "I figured you'd show up sooner or later."

"The island is under siege."

"We kind of figured that out ourselves." Replied Rouge.

"Come, this way."

The four of them headed to the edge of the island, a bit to the side of where most of the echidnas had gathered, though there were smaller groups around the perimeter and in town in case of a side attack.

Shadow looked out at the oncoming storm. "Looks like Robotnik's throwing a battalion at us."

The robotic air force soon reached the island, firing guns and missiles at anything in range. The echidnas also fired a counter attack, many of whom possessed energy attacks similar to Knuckle's Thunder Arrow.

Shadow and the others watched as bullets and missiles struck the ground near the echidnas. Some of the echidnas used their powers to generate force fields to protect them and their comrades; but some were gunned down, others blasted off their feet, their bodies projected several metres into the air. The counter offensive also had its share of hits. Some of the flying machines had dense armor that took a few hits to penetrate; but some were downed with one hit, while the tougher ones went down with a few lucky shots to a weak point.

Some of the fighters moved through the air quickly, propelled by large jet engines that carried them overhead past the initial defence. They dropped bombs on the echidnas, some of which were blocked by the shields, others landed and caused massive damage. As they flew past, they were intercepted by oncoming fire coming from the town. They continued into the fire, shooting at the buildings, destroying some, setting others on fire. When one was shot down, they crashed in a blaze, destroying anything in range with the shock, or the fire.

Shadow, Rouge, Tails and Tikal had hidden behind some boulders.

Rouge looked over to Shadow who was peeking his head out over the rock. "How are they doing?"

"Eh, roughly even." Shadow ducked back to avoid a bomb that exploded some distance away on the other side of the rock. "I wouldn't say we're doing too well though."

The four were knocked to the ground when they felt the earth shake beneath their feet.

Tails quickly floated up off the ground. "What was that, an earthquake?"

Shadow was in serious doubt. "On a floating island?"

He crawled away from the rocks and approached the edge to get a full view of the action. Feeling the vibrations in the ground, he looked down.

"Tails, come over here."

Tails joined him at the edge.

"Something's going on over there, can you fly down and see what?"

"Sure thing."

Tails floated down to examine what Shadow had pointed out. Attached to the side of the island was a giant machine, out of which, torn up dirt was pouring out of a large hole. Tails returned to report his findings to Shadow, Rouge and Tikal who had since joined him.

"There's a huge machine there, and it's eating up the island."

"Oh no."

Shadow looked back to Tikal. "What is it?"

"The chamber where the Master Emerald is stored, it is buried inside the island."

"Great! And Robotnik's drilling through the floor!"

"We have to do something. Some of my people are guarding it, but if anything happens to the Master Emerald, this island will crash to the ground."

"Rouge, you and Tails get out of here. Find a break in the robot line, and make a break a for it."

Rouge did not like where this was going. "I'm not leaving you here!"

"Get going! I've got to try and stop Robotnik; if he gets that emerald, then not only is this place doomed, but Knothole as well!"

Reluctantly, Rouge and Tails did as they were ordered and left. Shadow went with Tikal.

"Come, the entrance to the underground vaults is this way." Tikal led Shadow towards the village that was now half engulfed in flames.

Shadow looked up to see a falling attack ship coming straight at them. "Look out!"

Shadow grabbed Tikal, and without even thinking, triggered his Chaos Control. A green bolt fired from the spot as the plane struck, turning the area into an inferno. They stopped when they were in front of the main hall.

"Looks like my Chaos Control is back."

"Come, we have to stop Dr. Robotnik from claiming the Master Emerald."

A frown appeared over Shadow's face. "Even if it means destroying it."

To be continued


	25. Chapter 5: The End…

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 5: The End…**_

Tikal led Shadow down a series of twisting passageways, heading ever deeper into the island.

"The Master Emerald is not far."

"Hold it."

Shadow turned to look behind him. Coming down the hall was the old elder.

"You are heading towards the Master Chamber."

"Forget it old man, I'm off to stop Robotnik, and if I happen to do some damage to your precious Emerald on the way, well that's just too bad."

"I am well aware of that, but first, I must tell you about the Master Emerald, for it will be my only chance."

"Robotnik's robots are already here, there is no time."

The elder shook his head. "No my young friend, there is exactly enough time, and this you must hear."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I summoned you to this island. I did not bring you here to stop you, but because you were destined to come and destroy the Master Emerald."

"And you're trying to help me do that?"

"Please listen to my tale, and you will understand."

Shadow listened to the elder while they walked down the hall with Tikal.

* * *

"No outsider has visited this island in over 100 years, 110 in fact. It was then that we came to this place. Back then, the echidnas were not like what we are now, we were violent and savage, very much like Knuckles, only worse."

"The echidnas were power mad and sought to conquer or destroy all we encountered. One day, we came to hear of a mighty gemstone that bore incredible power onto its owner. The chieftain Pachacamac had ordered his forces to seek out this stone and make it his, and so they came to this island, more than 700 strong. They had found the temple that bore the Master Emerald, but with it was a grave curse; a creature simply known as 'Chaos', guarded the Master Emerald, and turned to the invaders to destroy them."

"Chaos was a frightening beast, but to marauders like the echidnas, fear meant little to them. That creature's strength was insane; its fists could crush large stones to dust, and its feet stomped with a viciousness that could press a man totally flat, but still the invaders fought him."

"The battle was bitter and fierce, lasting many days, that I kid you not. In the end, the creature Chaos was destroyed, but so too were the echidnas. The island was reduced to a devastated mess, covered with the bloody remains of many of the echidna. In the end, only 23 survived the attack. Pachacamac had finally claimed the stone, but before he would take it, he looked back and saw the destruction that his greed had caused. The echidnas had realized that their bloodlust had almost destroyed them; and so, they took root on the island and became protectors of the Master Emerald, just as Chaos had done before."

"From then on, the echidnas bore no weapons, other than what would be granted to them by the Master Emerald. And from then on, they took an oath to protect the Master Emerald from harm. Part of that, was to seek out the 'Chaos Emeralds'."

Shadow turned to the old one after hearing the term. "The Chaos Emeralds? Were do they fit into this?"

"They are from Chaos; the great energy that he had absorbed from being near the Master Emerald for so many countless centuries, had infused him with great power. When he was destroyed, the energy crystallized into his body, and exploded. Seven pieces became scattered throughout the world, one of which you came to possess."

"Aside from searching for the Chaos Emeralds, we have stayed here to watch over the Master Emerald, until Tikal had a vision. She saw you, destroying the Master Emerald. Some of us who heard it believed that it was our duty to stop you; that is why Knuckles was quite eager to find you. But some of the elders knew otherwise, and we knew that the Master Emerald was showing Tikal what was to come, not to prevent it, but because it must happen."

"But if the Master Emerald goes, this island will crash."

"Yes, and it may be the end of us, but it is of no concern to me, for I have lived so long, and seen much of this world. As the Master Emerald had given me long life, it has mow chosen that it will be taken away from me."

Shadow stopped and looked at the elder. After a pause, the elder spoke again.

"The name 'Pachacamac' is one I have not used in many years. It was an accursed name of an old time. I am all that's left of what came to the island with destructive thoughts. When the Master Emerald is destroyed, my life ends, and so shall the evil that plagued my people. Any who survive the falling of the island, can live on without knowing the great menace that we once brought to the world."

"It is now time, Shadow; my tale is ended, and the Master Emerald awaits your fate. Your Chaos Control power has been released, and is at your bidding again."

Shadow took one last look at the elder and Tikal, and raced down the rest of the hallway.

* * *

Shadow continued to the end of the hallway and entered the large stone door. Inside was a chamber that was larger than anything he had ever remembered seeing in his life. The walls were a dusty orange and decorated with ornate carvings in the stone. From where he stood, a large catwalk extended from the wall all around the round vault, and extended at four points to the center of the room, where there stood a large gem, large enough to put three or four of himself inside.

But something else was in the room with him, something that drove his attention away from the emerald.

"You! Get out of here!"

Shadow looked around to see Knuckles, doing battle with a large flying machine that was hovering around the Master Emerald. A large drill head had punctured its way through the round bottom of the chamber and was now acting as an anchor. The flying machine had flown through the hole.

"You better keep your eyes on that monster more than me, Red."

The mechanical monster was shooting at the stone supports that held the Master Emerald in place. Knuckles was trying to destroy it using his Thunder Arrow, but the device was too heavily armoured for him to no more than dent it.

Shadow leapt across the gap to one of the walkways and jumped up to the machine, throwing a punch or two. Just as with Knuckles' Thunder Arrow, his Chaos infused punches did little. Knuckles also ran to the machine and jumped up, throwing a few strikes of his own. The pair kept jumping and hitting the machine's heavy armour while it blasted the last few supports.

At one time they came close, and Knuckles gave a quick jab in Shadow's direction, knocking him to the bottom of the vault. Shadow ran up the side of the room to the walkway on the wall.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you jackass!"

"I don't need your help!"

"Tough!"

Shadow returned to the fight. The two continued to pepper at the monster that had soon completed its task to free the Master Emerald. The last support was knocked out.

* * *

"Yes! YES!! That jewel is mine! Attack those two nuisances and initiate the grapple hook."

* * *

Back in the Master Chamber, Robotnik's flying menace turned its laser cannons on Knuckles and Shadow. The two dodged the blasts while continuing to assail the machine, but soon the turret scored, blasting Knuckles to the far wall; were it not for the protection of the Master Control, Knuckles would surely have been roasted by the blast.

With one of the two out of the way, a hatch opened on the bottom of the vessel. From the opening, a large hand reached out, with long steel prongs as fingers. The arm reached out and clamped around the Master Emerald, lifting it out of the housing.

"NO!!!"

Once the Master Emerald was pulled out, the whole island started to shake.

"The island! It's falling!"

* * *

From the ground, Geoffrey and the others watched as the island started to shake as it struggled to stay aloft. Rouge and Tails had finally returned and joined them.

"What's going on up there?"

Rouge answered while Tails caught his breath. "Robotnik is stealing the Master Emerald."

"The what?"

"It's the power source for that island. If he takes it, the whole place falls."

"That explains it. Everybody, FALL BACK!!!"

The troop from Knothole retreated further into the woods as the floating island slowly descended and started to fall apart.

* * *

"Give that back!"

Shadow dodged some blasts as he tried to damage the craft, but was still getting no effect. The arm was retracting into the thieving ship, leaving Shadow with one opportunity. He leapt at it, and landed on the mighty rock.

He brought one fist up, ready to send all his strength into the emerald, hoping to shatter it, but something stopped him, some strange voice told him no. As he stood on it, he could feel the power of the stone coursing through him. With renewed diligence, he turned towards the ship, and presented both hands. Drawing power straight from the Master Emerald, he struck.

"CHAOS SPEAR!!!"

From his hands came a beam of light that was the purest white and seared the air, cutting straight through the metal beast above him. With a loud cackle, the monster broke apart along the cut, and exploded, dropping the Master Emerald with Shadow still on it. The two fell towards the ground, the ornate stone coming closer. Shadow could feel the burning energy of the Master Emerald at his feet as it consumed him. The room was bathed in a white light.

When it subsided, Knuckles looked into the ruin and saw Shadow, floating above the ground; the red marks in his fur were bleach white, and small white flares circled his form.

"You! What have you done?!"

Shadow did not respond; he simply stood there, floating. Knuckles charged him, but Shadow didn't flinch. As Knuckles got within range, the hedgehog swung his right arm out, and with a blast of white energy, propelled him back to the wall.

By now the floating island was well on its way to the ground, and was being shaken totally apart. The ground at Knuckles' feet was crumbling and breaking, but he was focused solely on the unmoving form of the dark destroyer.

"Knuckles!"

He looked up to one of the entrances. "Tikal? Get out of here!"

"This place is falling apart, we have to escape!"

"Get out, I have to finish this!"

"No, what's done is done! Just leave!"

"Never!"

Knuckles charged again, firing his Thunder Arrow, but Shadow simply blocked it, reflecting the attacks at various points around the room.

"I'll kill you!"

Knuckles charged again, and Shadow didn't flinch. Once Knuckles had approached, he simply raised a hand and picked him off the ground with an invisible force. He held Knuckles for a moment before tossing him back like a rag doll.

"Knuckles! We have… Eeek!" The ground at Tikal's feet ruptured and she was tossed to the ground.

"Tikal!"

Knuckles looked towards his immobile opponent, then to the unmoving girl. With clenched teeth, he made for the girl.

"Tikal! Tikal!"

He picked her up and looked for the nearest exit, finding only one; the route Robotnik's creation took to get in. Before he left, he took one last look at Shadow, who hadn't flinched despite the world crumbling to dust around him.

* * *

Outside, the floating island continued to plummet, slowly crashing into the lake it hovered over, and the mountains on one side. The land collapsed and broke apart, but from the hole on one side, a red vapour trail shot out, circled around and soon came to rest at the shores around the lake.

Knuckles laid Tikal on the grass.

"Tikal? Are you alright?"

"Just fine."

Knuckles was left in shock when Tikal stood up, seemingly uninjured and in perfect health.

"You faked me out!"

"Of course, acting helpless was the only way to help you."

"Damn it, Tikal! Why didn't you let me have at it with that bastard?!"

"It was futile to fight him, it would not bring back the Master Emerald or our home."

From behind Tikal, the two were called out. "Hey you jerks!"

Tikal turned back while Knuckles looked over her shoulder to see who was coming. From over a small knoll came Rouge flying towards them, followed by Geoffrey and the rest from Knothole.

"Alright you, where's Shadow?!"

Knuckles was to infuriated at hearing the name to dare answer, instead he wanted to beat some sense into the flying rat. "You dare mention…"

As he stormed forward, Tikal swung her arm out to block him. She turned her head and stared at him, her cold eyes froze him in his tracks.

Rouge landed in front of them. "Well?"

Knuckles cast a dark grimace on his face. "Your boyfriend had a bit of an accident. He's over there, if you can find him."

Rouge looked towards the rubble of the floating island that Knuckles was pointing to. "No…"

"I can still feel him."

Rouge turned to Tikal.

"He has become one with the Master Emerald, and its power is now his. Through time and space and all that exists, I can feel him. He is alive, but he has been taken beyond even my eyes."

By now, the rest from Knothole had caught up.

"But where is he?"

"You have not been listening, for I have told you that I do not know. All I know is that for now, he is well, but I believe that he is in great danger."

"But he has the Master Emerald, if that is as powerful as you say…"

"He now has immense power, and could save himself, but the Master Emerald's power is not infinite. Its power can be used but once, and if used improperly, Shadow will have condemned himself."

* * *

In a place completely removed from the apocalypse of the floating island, Shadow regained consciousness. The might of the Master Emerald still weighed heavy on him, but the strange force that beckoned him had passed.

Shadow looked around at where he was, a dark place, nothing as far as the eye could see, not to the sides, in front, behind, above or even beneath his feet. This world was totally empty.

"Where am I?"

Shadow could feel a presence however. "Who's there?"

END OF ACT IV


	26. Act V: INTO THE VOID

**Act V: Into the Void**

**A Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction by Black Mantle**

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Shadow now has the power of the Master Emerald at his disposal, but only for one big slam. But before he can use it, he has to break into Robotropolis, and fight his way past Dr. Robotnik's hordes, provided he can get back to Mobius.

A few more characters make the rounds in this Act; in character? I have no bloody idea.

This is the last Act in this story, but it is not the last of my fan-fiction. I already have more fan-fiction planned for Shadow & co., but I'll be taking a break for a little while to let the ideas congeal and to get some sleep.


	27. Chapter 1: History

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 1: History**_

"Welcome home."

Shadow looked out into the darkness, trying to pinpoint the sound, a disembodied voice that was as soothing as ice.

"Who are you? Why have you brought me here?!"

"I've simply brought you home."

Shadow tried to move around, but with no ground at his feet, he was mostly fidgeting with no result. "How about answering my first question?"

"Of course, I have forgotten that you wouldn't know me. I am your master."

"I have no 'master'! Now show yourself."

"Here."

Shadow looked forwards and up to see a strange figure floating above him. Oddly clothed, the stranger wore a nightmarish dark blue suit with large crystals at his wrists and ankles, and a large gem on his chest. His face was blank and expressionless, yet his hair looked like the fury of a flame frozen in time, colored an emerald green. Shadow wanted to look into the stranger's eyes, but he had none, only glassy orbs of absolute black.

"I am Void, and I am the one who created you."

"Created me?! No one created me, I am Shadow!"

"Which is all you are, or should I say, all you were meant to be."

"Silence with all your ludicrous stories. I have a life of my own; I remember my family, my life. No one 'created' me!"

"Those memories that you possess are false, you are my creation, my revenge."

"What?" Shadow was getting confused.

"Your memories; that of your parents, your sister, your life up to this point, are all a falsehood, created by me, just as your body was created by me."

The alien chuckled, but Shadow was only getting angrier.

"Some years ago, I tried to conquer this land. This is Maginaryworld, and it is a beautiful place of happiness and pleasure, things I despise. So one day, I changed all that. I went to the Temple of Light, home of Illumina, and destroyed the Precioustone, the gem that preserved the dream world of Maginaryworld. With the Precioustone destroyed, darkness and despair ruled."

"However, there would be one to ruin my plans. Her name was Lumina Flowlight, and she sought out someone to combat me and my darkness."

Shadow started to get the idea. "Sonic."

"That miserable blue freak came and defeated me. He had collected the pieces of the Precioustone, and restored Illumina and Maginaryworld to their 'former glory'. I was enraged, I must say, it was the first time I ever felt such a thing. But I didn't like being defeated, so my thoughts turned to revenge."

"And that's where you come in my cranky friend. I created a double of that miserable hedgehog, giving you power to defeat him, to beat him at his own game, and crush him. To that end, I gave you an advantage, a gemstone equipped with great power."

"After I sent you to the Great Forest, I was revelling in my invention. I couldn't wait for you to humiliate that blue boy. Your first battle could have gone better, but at least you gave him a run for his money. But something unexpected happened. I couldn't believe it myself, but Robotnik actually got the better of him. Sure it was a lucky shot, but it didn't matter, Sonic was gone."

"And what, did you just forget about me?"

"Actually, yes. With Sonic gone, there really was no point in bothering with you anymore, so I just left you there. In your enraged state, perhaps you would cause some real trouble, maybe taking your fury out on some of Sonic's friends, but it was of no more concern to me."

"Then, one day I happened to look in on you, I had not totally forgotten you. I was shocked at what I saw. You were in Knothole; you had taken that fool's place! I had been debating weither or not to call you back, to teach you a lesson for defying my intent. Instead, I left you alone; to see if anything interesting might happen. Soon the echidnas came, searching for the Chaos Emerald I had given you. Sure enough, they possessed the Master Emerald, a gem whose power rivalled the Precioustone. With that, I could conquer this place once and for all."

"I wondered how I could turn you to get it, but everything simply fell into place; those foolish echidnas simply invited you to them. When Robotnik came to steal the Master Emerald, the perfect opportunity arose. I am the one who commanded you to not destroy the Emerald, and to take its power for yourself. Then I brought you here."

"So you could take the power for yourself."

"Yes."

"But why the bogus memories?!"

"Because I needed you to be normal. If you didn't have a history, a basis of a moral upbringing, then you could never fit in. You'd stick out like a sore thumb wherever you went. You couldn't very well focus on your mission to destroy Sonic if you had to deal with a world that regarded you as a freak. So despite some amount of bad attitude, I made you relatively personable when you wanted to be, except for one deep desire. To destroy Sonic the Hedgehog."

"All my memories… false? My mother, father, Maria? None of them… real?"

"To you, they were as real as needed, but they are just that, nothing but a dream. I crafted the perfect little family for you from the happy memories of people all over the world, and from worlds you couldn't even fathom. Sickening really, I suppose in a way being from such a happy family spoiled you a bit, perhaps you found it too sweet and you rejected it; certainly your dark side must have created the illusion of discomfort. A 'black sheep' if you will."

"It was so real… it couldn't have been fake."

"Mommy dearest, who would tuck you into bed and read you bed time stories. Dear old dad, he'd be gone for most of the day to work, but would always spend time with you afterwards, tossing the old pigskin around. And little Maria, playing with her dolls, getting on your nerves trying to invite you to one of her little tea parties. How old was she when you _remember_ leaving? Seven, eight?"

"Shut up!"

"None of it was real, you have no home to go back to, just here with me. I'm the only family you ever had."

"No, it can't be."

Shadow was falling into a state of total confusion, his whole world had been one lie, all the memories of his family were naught.

"There, there. You have me."

"You! How could you do this to me?!"

"You should be grateful that I would even wish you back. You can put all those foolish thoughts behind you and join me in darkness where you belong."

Shadow's head was spinning, if his old memories were fake, what about the new ones? Did he really come to the Great Forest? Was there really a Sonic the Hedgehog? Did he ever actually meet Bunnie, Rouge, Sally, Geoffrey, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Tikal? Was he really fighting against a Dr. Robotnik?

"Come Shadow, join me. With the power of the Master Emerald, we can create whatever world we want."

Shadow tilted his head up slowly, just enough to see the alien creature hovering overhead. His eyes focused intently on the strange being with a razor like stare that bore all the hatred that Void had given him, magnified a hundred fold.

"And what makes you think I'd just hand it over?"

"You have no choice in the matter, you are my slave, and you will give me that power by my command, just as I ordered you to take it."

"Bite me."

"I will not tolerate your rudeness, now, give me that power."

Shadow could feel it, a tug on his soul as Void's words echoed through his head; but he was not to let this creature take that power, he had to fight.

"No."

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

* * *

"Shadow?"

All was white, there was nothing but white, all that could be seen was white.

"Shadow? Can you hear me? Shadow?"

"Who is that?"

"I speak to you through the Master Emerald."

"Tikal?"

"I have sought you out, your friends want you back."

"But, where am I, not here, but where did that thing…"

"You are beyond our reach, but you have power. I know what the Void wishes of you, but you have the power to fight him. Although he has spoken the truth about your existence, you do not have to accept what he says. You have friends that do care about you, and they are very real, with feelings that are real, and a home that is real. You are no slave to anyone. Take the Master Emerald's power for your own bidding, and may it grant you freedom from your oppression."

"I can still feel that power, looming over me, it is truly great. With it, I can defeat him."

"Shadow, you possess power, but all power comes with responsibility, and a warning. The Master Emerald is the physical manifestation of the entropy of the universe; the chaos in the world, made real. As such, it has infinite potential, but with limited use. Its power can enhance your abilities, but if you use its energy, then there is no force in this world or any other that can recharge it. Its power is always eternal, but its energy will be gone."

"The greatest power, with only one chance to use it?"

"Use it wisely. And remember this, no matter who you are, no matter your past, be it false or true, your life is what you make it, and what you make of it. Go forth, as you see fit."

The white faded, Shadow was left in darkness.

* * *

His eyes opened, his mind was washing away the binds that Void held over him.

"No. No! I will not let you have this power!"

"You dare to defy me, slave?"

"Silence! I am no slave, to anyone, least of all you!"

"The Master Emerald must truly be great if it can give will to that which has none."

"You are wrong, no rock has given me strength to fight you; I am fighting you from my own soul. For I now declare that I am 'Shadow' by name only! I am not a shadow of anyone, not that hedgehog, not you, not your twisted dreams, nor your revenge."

"I care not that you created me, that all that I have known is a lie, I am still what I am, and I will seek my own truths. I will live on as if I had never known what you have done to me. You gave me those memories to shape my life, so as to fit in; well, that is all of you I will accept. I now act on my own, on those falsehoods you have given me, for to me, that is my truth, that which is uniquely my own. I will never forget them, even if the world never knew them. And to their memory, I will smite you!"

"You would accept these lies over the truth that I created you?"

Shadow was seething at the teeth. "You created me, but you do not own me!"

"Then I shall destroy your memories, for when you die, so do they."

To be continued


	28. Chapter 2: From Nightmares into Dreams

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 2: From Nightmares into Dreams**_

In the depths of darkness, a place where light has no permission to exist, where sound is nothing but endless echoes, came something that violated both laws.

POW!

Shadow was blasted back several metres through the void. With no ground, or anything else, he simply tumbled through the empty space. Looking up, he saw his opponent.

"Chaos Spear!"

A sharp beam of light fired from the hedgehog's hands, heading straight for the dark spectre before him, but he vanished before being smitten by the beam.

Shadow looked around, trying to determine where Void would reappear, most likely behind. Shadow turned as best he could and fired another spear, this one deflecting the dark blast from his alien creator. Void disappeared again, leaving Shadow alone to try and guess his next move. This was where Shadow was at a disadvantage; in the void, there was nothing to push against, so running was not possible unless he used the Master Emerald's power. He was stuck. Void on the other hand could teleport around, allowing him full movement in the emptiness.

His mind was racing when he heard the oncoming blast. Shadow turned to try to block it, but barely had the chance to do so. The beam impacted, hurtling Shadow through the darkness.

"This may be your home, but you certainly don't seem to have the home field advantage, do you?"

{How I'd like to get my hands on that freak and give him a good one-two. I bet he has a glass jaw to go with those eyes.}

Void appeared above Shadow, if there was such a thing as above in this place and fired again. Shadow saw it and somehow contorted to avoid it.

{Damn! If I could only use the Master Emerald, I could go toe-to-toe with this guy. But if I do, I'm stuck here. And if I try to teleport out, what's to stop this guy from coming after me again. Either way, even if I get home, what do I do about Robotnik?}

Shadow looked around as Void teleported again. Twisting around, Shadow tried to locate the menace, only finding him when he fired off another dark blast. Shadow responded with his Chaos Spear that managed to stop the oncoming attack, but only just in time. Shadow found himself alone again. Again he scanned the darkness for his nemesis of the moment, and found him only a foot behind him.

He had no chance to dodge, block or counter. Void's attack hit him at full power, and the hedgehog was sent tumbling through space.

{How the Hell do I beat this guy?}

Shadow kept falling into the nothingness, his mind filling with confusing thoughts, his false family, his true friends, the darkness of his soul, and the evil he was fighting.

{If I had a place to stand, I could beat this jerk.}

He could do nothing, Void had him totally outmatched and overpowered. In this place, Shadow was a fish out of water. He tumbled even more, he was disoriented even more, and then he stopped.

Shadow snapped out of his stupor and looked down; his feet had hit something, something solid. Though he couldn't see it, he was standing on something as firm as stone. From the depths, he could hear a small voice echo in his mind.

{_You now have all you need. Go forth, and fight the darkness._}

Shadow stood strong and firm on the invisible platform, and looked up. Above him, Void fired at him again. With a sneer across his lips, Shadow took off, just missing the black energy. He could feel the power given to him by the Master Emerald, running faster than the wind, he moved faster than he ever had before; faster than his phase run, faster than the Chaos Control, faster than he, Sonic, or anyone before had raced.

Void was stupefied when he saw the white streak flying though the night, somehow that hedgehog had gained the ability to move in this barren place; he moved fast, and he was heading this way. Void tried to throw Shadow off with a few more energy bolts, but as each approached, the white streak performed a quick step in one direction or the other to avoid.

Shadow had no idea what he was running on, it was simply something that existed in the darkness, or masked by the darkness. The path before him curled and warped in seemingly every direction at once, but it was taking him towards his goal. Shadow wasn't sure, but he couldn't tell if the path was leading him to Void, or if the path was bending to his will to take him where he wanted to go; It didn't matter, he was going where he wanted.

The black and white hedgehog was getting too close, and Void teleported away as the streak passed by. Void reappeared a fair distance away, but upon looking back, he could see that Shadow's direction had already changed and was well on his way. He took a few more shots as the oncoming meteor.

The path at Shadow's feet shifted, lifting him above the projectiles. Pushing forward with his arms, Shadow fired his Chaos Spear at the tyrant. Void dodged, and Shadow fired again. Void teleported away. Although Shadow couldn't see him, the path twisted again, and Shadow found himself heading in a totally new direction; before him, Void reappeared.

"You can't hide from me!"

"How? How are you doing this?!"

Void fired a few more times, each one avoided like the last. When Shadow again closed in, Void vanished.

Shadow had enough of this game. When the path turned again, he didn't need it; he could feel Void, and knew exactly where he was. Leaving the security of the path, he combined the Master Control with his phase run and teleported. As if it was planned to the very detail, the path was also there and his feet again found something solid. He looked before him, waiting a fraction of a second as Void reappeared. The dark one turned to see Shadow lunging at him.

His fist hit hard, smashing into the middle of Void's face, knocking him back. Before he could recover, Shadow appeared behind him, and struck him at the back of the head with an elbow. Lurching forward, Void was caught again as Shadow reappeared below him, throwing a flying uppercut to his gut. Shadow quickly followed it with a drop kick on Void's back.

Void had been left a battered mess by now, but Shadow had one more hit coming. The hedgehog appeared in front of Void with both hands clamped together; swinging his whole body, he crashed both fists into Void's head, catapulting him through the emptiness. As he flailed, the body of Void slowly faded, like it had disappeared from existence; and with him went the darkness.

* * *

Shadow landed, only this time he could see what was at his feet, grass. He looked around and found himself in a beautiful pasture, no trace of Void or his darkness were to be seen.

"Hello."

Shadow turned with a jolt. "Who are you?"

The only remaining dark creature looked at the newcomer. She was most unusual; at least he thought that she was female. Dressed in pink with pure white wings, the stranger simply floated there, wearing a big smile.

"That was very impressive."

"Thanks. Wait, you were the voice I heard."

"That right! My name is Lumina, and I came to help you."

"So you created that path for me."

"I didn't have to, it was there the whole time; all you really needed was to remember how to use it, you did come from the Void after all. I mean 'the Void' the place, not 'Void' the person."

"Void mentioned you, you were the one who brought Sonic here."

"That's right. I needed a hero to combat Void when he tried to conquer Maginaryworld, and Sonic was ready and able."

"So, just what is this place, anyway?"

"It is the land of dreams, all of the good dreams that people have live here. Void represents darkness and is the despair in people's hearts and minds. He cannot be defeated by physical force, but by faith in the self. Once you believed in yourself, he could no longer control you, and you could defeat him, with a little help from me of course."

"So he's not gone."

"No, but that is the way it always is; you can never fully destroy despair, nor can you fully destroy hope, until all comes to an end. Therefore, there will always be Void, and there will always be me."

Shadow was only vaguely coherent of what Lumina was saying. "You say this is the land of dreams."

"Yes, you were born here, of Void's dreams of revenge, this is your real home. Come with me, I will show you."

* * *

Shadow followed Lumina for some time, though the hours passed like seconds, like looking back through memories of time passed.

"Do you see it?"

Shadow looked down, in the middle of the pasture a trio had set up a small picnic.

"It's your family, Shadow, the one that Void had created for you; here, they are as real as you are. Shadow, it is your choice, you have been given a physical form by Void, so you can choose. You can rejoin the family that you remember, or the family that you found. You can stay here, or I can return you to Knothole."

"Can I have a moment?"

"Of course, in the land of dreams, you can have whatever you want."

Shadow headed out to the field, silently approaching the family of three.

* * *

Shadow stood not far from the picnicking family; not wanting to interfere, but still wanting to get a closer look. The father of the set had his back to Shadow, but his grey fur was easily visible. Shadow remembered the blue shirt he was wearing; it was one of his favourites, a bowling shirt that he wore when he was out with the guys on Thursdays. They weren't very good and lost most of the time, but it really didn't matter to them.

In front of him and turned sideways from Shadow was a light yellow hedgehog in a full-length orange dress. The spikes on her head were curled in a series of loops and rings. Shadow remembered once when he saw her curling her hair one time and asked why she did it; the answer was to look pretty. His interest was piqued, and while she wasn't looking Shadow had made a grab for the curling iron. Subconsciously, Shadow's hand clinched as he remembered the burn he received from the hot iron. Since then, Shadow never bothered to make himself look pretty, and simply let his spikes go in whichever direction they did.

He looked back to the pair, then over to the remaining space on the blanket, but it was empty.

"Hello."

Shadow looked down and saw the smaller hedgehog had come over to him. A small girl with bright red fur and a yellow dress that looked a lot like Amy's red one. In her arms was a rag doll whose features had worn somewhat. If it were any particular kind of animal, it would be difficult to determine now.

"Hi."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Shadow."

"My name is Maria."

"That's a nice name."

"And this is 'Dolly'." Maria held up her doll to the black hedgehog.

"Hi Dolly."

"You're funny. Dolly can't hear you; she's a doll."

Shadow paused for a second as Maria bore a huge grin. He responded with a small laugh.

"Is that your family over there?"

"Most of it."

"What do you mean?"

Maria's smile faded. "I have a brother, but I haven't seen him in so long."

"Do you miss him?"

"A lot. You look kind of sad, too. Do you miss your family?"

"A lot."

"Sometimes, I wonder if he'll ever come home."

"I'm sure he will."

"I just hope he hasn't forgotten us."

Shadow crouched down to look Maria face to face. "Tell me, have you forgotten him?"

"Of course not."

"Then I think he still remembers you."

"I wish he was with us, and I wouldn't have to just remember him."

"Listen, I once heard, that as long as you remember someone, then there will always be a part of them with you."

"What does that mean?"

"Sometimes, I try to figure that one myself. But if you can't have a person with you, then you can remember them; and you can be sure that they remember you, and they want to be with you too."

"That sounds like something mommy says when I'm sad."

"It probably is."

"Maria!"

Shadow and Maria looked towards the pair on the blanket, who seemed to have moved almost out of visual range.

"That's my mommy, she's looking for me."

"Then you should go back to her."

Maria started to run back, but before she was out of sight looked back. "Don't be sad, I'm sure your family remembers you." She turned, and left Shadow behind.

"And Gerald remembers you too."

* * *

Shadow was alone, until Lumina moved up behind him.

"You still desire to be with your family."

Shadow took a second before he answered. "They're not my family anymore."

"They will always be your family."

Shadow didn't answer that.

"Have you decided what you want, to stay or to return?"

"I don't know, I want to be here with them, but I also want to go back. And what about Void, you said he can't be destroyed, what if he tries to attack me again, or them?"

"In the real world, Void is nothing more than the emptiness and despair in a person's heart; if you have will and hope, then he cannot reach you. And as long as you hold the memories of your family in your heart, then Void can do nothing to them either."

"Then I go back; there are people who need me there, and I will teach Void a lesson. I will punish him by returning to Knothole, and completing the task of the one he sent me to destroy."

"That is a strange thought, it is something that has no place here."

"Sometimes I wonder if I have a place anywhere. Just bouncing around, occasionally finding a place, but it eventually grows tiring, or tired of me. I suppose that is my destiny."

"That is true, your thoughts and decisions are not your own, they are crafted by the people you know. Destiny is nothing more than the decisions one makes in order to appease others and to do what others have imposed on them. Then the outcome is what is called 'fate'. This world is controlled by dreams of people, where people can write their own path, and there is no destiny or fate. Here, only what you want is what matters."

Shadow stood silently, considering his options.

Lumina moved behind him, and whispered in his ear. "What is it that you want, deep in your heart?"

"I want to go back to Knothole."

"Then so it is."

Shadow turned to Lumina who was holding a huge mallet.

"Nighty night!"

Shadow's world suddenly went dark.

* * *

Shadow shook the numbness out of his head; he had no idea where he was except that he wasn't in Maginaryworld anymore. All around were the tall trees of the Great Forest, but they seemed sickly and withered. He looked around, seeing only one thing that was different than the shafts of dark brown and tops of ill green. Before him was a mountain of grey steel, smoke pouring from high towers and green sludge pouring into the nearby river.

With both fists clenched and a grinding of his teeth, Shadow glared his eyes at the disgusting sight.

"Prepare yourself, Robotnik. Today, you die!"

Shadow's form was consumed in a white glow, and shot of towards the center of the metal city.

To be continued


	29. Chapter 3: Invasion

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 3: Invasion**_

Back at Knothole, some of the echidnas including Tikal and Knuckles had come to meet Sally to tell her what had been going on, and to see if they could be of any help to each other.

"It might have saved us a lot of trouble if you had simply come to us and told us what was going on."

Tikal bowed slightly. "My apologies; but what happened, as I explained to Shadow and he to Rouge earlier, was that the vision I had was supposed to happen. There would have been no way to save our home, Shadow was going to take the Master Emerald, and the floating island was doomed. It's as simple as that."

Sally sighed. "But still, it seems like such a waste."

Rouge wanted to know more about what became of Shadow. You were saying that you couldn't see Shadow anymore, but you can feel him, is that all?"

"No, before coming here I was able to contact him, to give him a brief message."

"You did?! What did you say to him?! Is he alright?!"

Everyone was now focused on Tikal.

"I could only warn him that the power of the Master Emerald had its limits, and that it needed to be used wisely. But more importantly, to him at least, he was suffering; it was not a physical pain, but emotional, a loss of faith."

Bunnie was as lost as everyone else. "What do yah mean, 'a loss of faith'?"

"He has come to face the truth that is uniquely his own. For all of us, there is something that guides our lives, weither we know it or not. For some, that undeniable truth is very horrible and can shatter the soul."

"But what is this 'truth' of his?" asked Rouge.

"I cannot tell you, it is something that lies buried in each of us, and it is something that only Shadow has any right to tell you. All I can say is that it is one of the most dastardly realities that any person should ever have to face."

Sally was leaning forward in her chair, trying to understand what Tikal was saying. "You said you contacted him before, can you do so now?"

"I've been trying, but he has moved again; or more specifically, the world around him has changed. He is still confused and distraught, but I believe he is coming to grips with his truth."

"Can he get back?"

"He still possesses the Master Emerald, he could return if he wants too, but I believe that he still has doubts as to his future. He has seen something, something that he thought was lost to him, something he may cherish…"

Tikal froze in mid-sentence, as if the icy grip of death had reached out to her shoulder. The cup that she was drinking from slipped from her hands and fell to the floor.

"What is it?"

Knuckles stood up with his fists balled together. "I can feel it."

Tikal recovered from the shock and sat up. "He's back, Shadow is back; I can see him. He still holds the might of the Master Emerald, and is taking it to a dark place to unleash it against your oppressor."

Sally stared wide-eyed. "Robotropolis?"

Rouge was even more interested in Shadow. "Is he alright?"

Tikal stood up. "Yes, to both."

Sally turned to her side where Geoffrey was standing up. "Geoffrey! Rally the troops, we have to find out what's going on."

"Princess, gathering everyone would be a waste, with or without Shadow our army doesn't have a chance on Robotnik's home turf."

"Then prepare a small team, we'll sneak over there and find out what's going on."

"As you wish, your highness."

Sally turned back to the echidnas. "How powerful is this 'Master Emerald'? Could Shadow defeat Robotnik with it?"

"Most easily, if used properly."

While everyone was making their way outside, Rouge stopped Tikal.

"You said that he had to face something horrible, something that hurt him, emotionally. How is he now?"

"He has faced it, as he needed to, and he has come out with a better understanding of himself and the world around him. But the Shadow you once knew is no more."

"What do you mean?"

"We are all defined by what we know more than what we are, what Shadow has experienced has changed everything he thought he knew. Physically he's the same, but that is all that is left of the one you knew as 'Shadow'."

* * *

"Warning! Warning! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

Robotnik spun around in his chair with shock. "Computer, what is it?"

"Trespasser has been identified in sector D-1. Identity of trespasser is Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Show me."

The main viewer switched to an image of outside. Between the large factories and over the cement ground a white streak flew towards the heart of the city and the large steel edifice at the center.

"Confirm, is this Shadow?"

"Affirmative." A single frame snapshot of the hedgehog appeared, showing that the white smear did have Shadow's shape, but it was colored completely white. "The physical structure matches that of Shadow, but its energy levels have been increased by a factor of 8.81. Further analysis indicates that the stored energy level can be more than 20 times that of the displayed level."

Robotnik was flabbergasted, not only was Shadow charging at him, but according to the computer, his Chaos Control power had a 200 times boost.

"Computer, lockdown Robotropolis. Engage all security and defence measures!"

* * *

Throughout Robotropolis, the warning of the intruder was sent to all the robots in the steel city.

"All available units converge on sectors D-1, D-2, E-1, E-2 and E-3. Block all entrances to sector A. Target is Shadow the Hedgehog. Terminate with extreme prejudice."

All around the city, robots of every conceivable shape and size were gathering in the eastern parts of Robotropolis.

* * *

"It'll take more than this to stop me, Robotnik."

Shadow paid little attention to the robots that were closing in, except for those shooting at him. He would dodge shots taken at him, but unless a robot appeared directly in front of him he tried to avoid wasting time and energy destroying them. It took him only a minute of racing and dodging before he made it to the large tower at the center of Robotropolis. Waiting outside was a significant welcoming party.

Shadow didn't slow down as he approached the massive defence, but he didn't ignore it either. Before him stood several tanks, a small division of SWATbots, and three flying machines, similar to the ones that attacked the floating island; all where fully armed, and aiming at him.

Bright lights and loud explosions filled the area as the combined firepower struck the ground at the hedgehog's feet. Shadow deftly dodged every projectile and energy beam sent his way, leaving a snake of white light behind to mark where he was. The robots continued to fire at their target, but were unable to get even a glancing blow against the invader.

The onslaught did create one side effect, the constant barrage of missile fire was creating a large smoke cloud in Shadow's area, and the robots could no longer see their target. With their target lost, the robots stopped firing to let the smoke clear. After a minute, the smoke had dissipated enough to see, but there was no sign of the hedgehog, only the craters from the missile impacts.

"We have lost the target. There is no sign of weither Shadow was destroyed or not. Requesting orders."

Robotnik had called through a transceiver to the robots. "Wait there and guard the door. Do not leave your post until Shadow has been confirmed as terminated."

The robots spread out around the door to guard it from any direction, but there was no sign of Shadow anywhere. A few other SWATbots had arrived to inspect the cratered area, but they could find no evidence of Shadow's demise.

"Looking for me?"

All the robots turned to see that Shadow had snuck by and was standing in front of the door. All of them levelled their weapons.

* * *

Robotnik almost jumped out of his chair. "No! Don't shoot at the door! Grab him!"

* * *

Back outside, the SWATbots got the order and charged the black and white hedgehog, while the tanks and flyers held fast. Shadow didn't move as the robots came closer, but he wore a big smirk on his face.

"I hope you like to party, cause you're going out with a bang!"

Shadow held up several wires in his hands, and brought the ends together, causing a spark.

The robots didn't have time to look, but the wires ran along the ground, behind them, and up into the tanks. In the short time of Shadow's disappearance, he had snuck in and sabotaged all six tanks. The spark was quickly joined by the massive blasts of the tanks' cannons, still aimed for the door and now the troop of SWATbots.

Shadow zipped out of the way, just in time to escape the fiery death of the robots and the large blast door.

"Man, that was too easy."

Shadow jolted again, past the destroyed door and out of range of the tanks and fliers.

* * *

"Blast it! That filthy rodent is inside!"

Robotnik started to frantically push buttons on the console in front of him.

"He still has a way to go before reaching me, but I can't let him."

* * *

Shadow made his way through the massive structure, and although he had a good idea as to where to find Robotnik, he really had no idea how to get there. Shadow charged forward, looking for any way to get to the center of the building.

For a few minutes, he raced through hallways, destroying any robots Robotnik was foolish enough to put in his way. Then he came to a large door, which he figured led to the very heart of the structure and entered.

To be continued


	30. Chapter 4: The End of the Beginning

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 4: The End of the Beginning**_

Shadow entered the room and looked around, amazed by its size and the lack of any defences present there. It was a giant laboratory, probably filled with sensitive equipment that Robotnik didn't want any of his robots near, for fear of them damaging something.

Shadow walked around the huge space, but his eye was caught by something at the center of the room, something very large. He didn't have to get close to know what it was, he instinctively knew. Standing at the center of the lab was a large glass tube, a phone booth sized chamber that resembled the one he saw in Knothole.

"So, this is the roboticizer, looks like you haven't been used in a while."

Shadow looked at the aging console that had been inactive for years. It was only the first roboticizer that Robotnik had developed, others followed, smaller, more efficient, now they were portable.

As the hedgehog examined the machine, another machine was moving into position overhead, but its motions were not unnoticed. Shadow heard the motors and looked up to see a large steel tube pointing straight at him. Sparks danced around the cylinder, and Shadow leapt away as a bright blue beam fired at him.

"Chaos Spear!"

Shadow responded with his own attack, but the force was absorbed by a shield around the laser turret.

"O.K. This is annoying."

The gun fired again at Shadow's new position; again the speedy one sped out of the way. Shadow ran for one of the doors on the outside, hoping to open it to get away, but each door he tried was locked.

"Just great. Well, I can't stay here with that eye in the sky taking pot shots at me."

Shadow ran around the room, occasionally stopping to fire his Chaos Spear at the laser, which still had no effect on the shielding around the turret. Shadow ducked behind a piece of lab equipment, hoping to get a bit of cover. The turret followed his movements and fired at the large block.

The barrier held for a moment, but it was starting to emit a light blue glow from the attack. Sparks danced around the object, and Shadow realized that his cover was not holding up as well as he had hoped. The machine exploded as Shadow made a break for it, getting a few metres before being knocked to the ground by the explosion.

The hedgehog rolled behind a cabinet for a bit of cover, hoping that the turret didn't track his movement. Feeling safe for the moment, Shadow brushed himself off and checked for any damage. All seemed well, but his left arm was feeling a bit numb. He looked down towards his arm, but where his elbow should have been, was a mechanical joint. He was mesmerized by the amputation, by this violation of his form.

{That maniac, he's built a laser cannon out of a roboticizer.}

Several dark images ran through his head. All it would take was a direct hit from that thing to turn Shadow into a steel slave. He would exist for nothing more than to serve Robotnik's every whim, and there would be no doubt that he would be sent to destroy Knothole. Or worse, with the power of the Master Emerald, Robotnik could easily power a larger version of that blasted weapon, and roboticize the whole forest in one go.

The laser had given up searching for the hedgehog and simply started firing randomly at anything in the room, starting from where Shadow was last seen. The pale light was striking objects and seemed to ooze around them, looking for their organic prey.

Shadow could see it coming closer, he wasn't safe there, he wasn't safe anywhere. Shadow needed to stop that thing, he needed to break down that shield; he needed to get the Hell out of here.

Shadow ran from his hiding spot and started to fire around the room, hoping to find a hole or weakness in the shield or the walls.

The roboticizer followed his movements, but was always a little shy of the mark with its shots.

* * *

"It's just a matter of time now. Keep up the pressure, and wait for him to slip."

* * *

Shadow continued to dodge the beam, but he was finding it tiring to be constantly shooting it at and getting no results. He lost it again as he ducked behind another piece of equipment. The beam focused on it, planning to destroy it like the first; though this obstacle was a bit sturdier and held up a lot better to the punishment.

He couldn't stay there for long, and decided to try an old trick. Picking up a toolbox a few feet away from him, he started throwing some of the tools around the room; first a hammer, then a screwdriver, then a box of screws. The first two seemed to do nothing, but the huge clatter from the screws spilling on the floor was enough to get the attention of the gun.

With the heat off for a few seconds, Shadow moved from his position to an alternate hiding spot, carrying a few of the tools with him; carrying the whole box would've been too noisy. The turret had lost its lock and was parsing the room, looking for Shadow. The hedgehog had found a new hiding spot and retrieved the hammer that he threw there earlier.

* * *

"I don't care if I have to destroy the whole room, I'm going to make that Hedgehog my slave even if it kills him."

* * *

With nothing to lock on to, the laser once again fired at random objects, holding its beam on them until the energy overload eventually destroyed the target. Shadow would occasionally poke his head out to see what the turret had locked onto at a given time, hoping that it wouldn't get his hiding spot.

Knowing it would only be a matter of time, Shadow started to look around the room. Robotnik's roboticizer gun was slowly destroying everything, but there remained a few useful things still lying around. On the far side of the lab, Shadow could make out a large tank.

{A propane tank, perhaps acetylene? If there's a torch on it, I could try cutting through the floor. Or perhaps I could get a lucky shot from that blasted gun and simply blow one of the doors down.}

One of his tools was a crowbar, which Shadow tossed towards his last hiding spot. This time, it was enough to draw the gun away from him for a second. Shadow ran under a nearby table about halfway to the tank. The large machine that Shadow tossed the crowbar at exploded, and the turret moved again.

Shadow looked for another place to attack, and the most obvious stood right in front of him. He had two tools left, a wrench and the hammer from earlier. Taking the hammer, he threw it to the center of the room, smashing the large glass tube of the old roboticizer. The new roboticizer aimed straight down, looking at the damage of its ancient predecessor, but found no trace of Shadow. By now, the hedgehog had reached the tank.

There were actually several tanks, a mix of acetylene and oxygen; though they would have been useful for cutting, no torch was to be found near them. It didn't really matter; it would take too long and make too much noise to cut through the floor, so the only real option was to detonate one of the tanks near a door.

Feeling the tanks, Shadow grabbed one that seemed close to full, namely the heaviest with the label "acetylene" on it. It was almost too heavy for the small creature, but he found that his left arm was much stronger than before, thanks to the partial roboticization. Hefting it over his shoulder, Shadow quickly ran for the nearest door while the laser turret was pointed in a different direction.

"Over here!"

The gun quickly rotated and aimed towards Shadow, ignorant of the tank lying on the ground. Shadow dodged as the gun fired, striking the canister, resulting in a huge fiery explosion that rocked the whole room. Shadow was knocked off his feet, while the turret's camera was blinded by the flash.

Shadow looked back, but was displeased that the explosion wasn't enough to destroy the door; although, it did rip up the floor pretty good. Shadow considered trying it again with another tank, but his attention was called to the ceiling as the roboticizer regained its focus and was locking on again.

Shadow leapt to one side to avoid the beam and rolled back to his feet. Realizing that he was still holding the wrench, Shadow threw it at the turret in an act of desperation. Into the air it flew, until it reached the shield, then the turret.

Clank!

{It hit?}

The turret fired again, forcing Shadow to leap for more cover. Once safe, Shadow reconsidered his situation.

{So, the shield only blocks energy attacks. Now I just have to find something to destroy it with.}

The gun started firing on Shadow's current position, forcing him to move; but as he took his first step, he realized something was very wrong. Trying to run out of the way, Shadow tripped. Lying on the floor, he looked down to see that his right leg had joined his left elbow. Instead of his leg and a sneaker, he was walking with a limb of steel.

"Well this is just great."

Shadow used his cybernetic limb as best he could and tried to run, but the difference between his two legs made his run very wobbly. He was unable to get any real distance between himself and his last hiding spot before it blew up.

The explosion knocked Shadow forward, landing flat on his face.

"Ow."

Shadow looked up to see that he was now out in the open, and the roboticizer gun was aiming right for him. It fired at him, but Shadow rolled just enough to avoid, and to get back on his feet. Before he could move, the gun had re-aimed and had fired again.

"Chaos Spear!"

Shadow fired his energy beam into the oncoming ray, meeting head-on in a bright flare that lit up the room even more so; everything that seemed dank and grungy shone with a bright silver polish under the white sun.

Shadow was holding the beam back, but while he stood his ground, he saw that he was starting to lose. His left hand was going numb, and before his eyes, it seemed as if his glove was melting away to reveal a skeleton of steel.

"No, no I can't lose, not now. Not to him!"

Shadow pushed harder, but he could feel his mind starting to slip away. Though the beam couldn't reach him, his Chaos Spear wasn't providing a perfect defence, and slowly his body was failing.

While he held as best he could, contemplating any possible way out of this trap, his thoughts also turned to those he left behind. What would become of his friends in Knothole, would they simply be crushed once he was gone, could they flee, or would Robotnik turn him against them? He was terrified that his own metal hands would destroy them. And what would happen to his family? They only existed in his memories, if he fell, they would be lost. No, he couldn't allow that.

With a renewed vigour, Shadow thrust all he had into the energy beam, and sent it back at the turret. The huge flame crept to the turret, and hit the shield, exploding in a bright flash. Shadow fell back, then ducked for cover again while the laser turret was knocked for a loop; but aside from losing its target, it seemed to have suffered little damage.

Breathing heavily, Shadow tried to regain his composure, but something caught his eye. Off to his right, he saw the strangest sight. Just standing there was a robot, a slender robot with red lights for eyes. Delicately crafted, the steel being stood with a fine posture. He looked in awe at the robot, a ballerina, the same one that Sally had told him about; it was truly beautiful.

The robot looked back, and Shadow saw something in its vacant eyes that he couldn't believe. Though its face was of hard metal, and its eyes where lenses of burning red light, in those emotionless features, there was a hint of awe in them; it was almost as if the robot was impressed, perhaps inspired by the resiliency and fortitude of the black one. He couldn't understand why, but the robot turned away from him and took a few steps. Facing the wall, the robot took a look back, then closed it's eyes.

The ballerina thrust its hands into the wall and grabbed the wires underneath. The massive charge shot through the delicate steel frame, and the entire room flickered as the lights kept coming on and off in violent flashes.

Shadow watched in amazement as the robot held fast to the destructive charge. He turned his attention to the laser turret in the ceiling, the massive discharges were causing interference throughout the whole room, and the turret seemed to shake radically, unable to hold in any one direction for more than a fraction of a second; the beam firing randomly throughout the room. The shield still seemed to be in place, but he knew how to get through it.

Shadow ran for the wall of the round enclosure and spun into a large saw, grinding into the wall and digging almost a foot into the steel. Like a fiery disc, Shadow cut a path up the wall, and through the shield. The camera mounted on the roboticizer just caught a glimpse of the demon at it cut the roboticizer in half.

The decimated machine exploded.

* * *

"What has that blasted girl done?! And she's left one of the doors open!"

Robotnik turned to his side, towards the wall where a dark figure stood.

"Don't just stand there, get down there and dispose of him!"

* * *

Shadow stumbled through the room, a little too tired to run, or to even care about the half of his body that was now forged in metal. He trodded to the spot where the ballerina had torn into the wall.

Lying on the ground at his feet were the remains of the robot. From his real eye and his red cyborg eye, Shadow examined the damage done. Both arms were frayed off, and her stomach was missing, possibly something inside had overloaded from the charge. She had lost power and was now dead.

Shadow was totally confused by this turn, a creature of steel, something that should have been nothing more than a slave to Robotnik had sacrificed itself for him. Why? Why would it do that? Was she roboticized and trying to break free of him, trying to fight back against his control?

Shadow took the head of the robot, but something felt wrong. He tried to use his power to look into the mind of the ballerina, hoping to see some glimpse of what could have sent her against her master, but he got nothing. Even though it was dead, Shadow felt as if he should have gotten something, but he could find no mind in the metal.

{Can it be, she's a robot?}

Now Shadow was even more lost, why would a machine, built by Robotnik dare to do this?

She looked so sad, the eyes were dark, and it looked like it had died in despair. Shadow had little time, but took the pieces of the robot and laid them out, trying to piece it back together as best he could. For whatever reason it had for saving him, Shadow knew he couldn't fail, there was too much to lose, and so much that had already been lost.

There must be no more.

To be continued


	31. Chapter 5: Robotnik's Countermeasure

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 5: Robotnik's Countermeasure**_

Dr. Robotnik watched as Shadow used his Chaos Control to reverse the damage he had done to the hedgehog's form.

"Unbelievable; he actually has the ability to reverse the roboticization process. I have clearly underestimated him. He may wish he kept some of that steel when he sees what I have ready for him next."

* * *

Shadow had finished his restoration; the last little bit of roboticized flesh was back to normal, and no trace of the assault on his person was left. Shadow gave a quick check to see if there was anything else amiss, but his attention was soon drawn to another part of the lab.

Covered in the darkness that so welcomes him, Shadow sensed another presence. In reality, it was his ears that told him of the other. The stranger made few moves, but all of them were accompanied by a sharp metallic clamp, despite how careful or quiet the movement was. Shadow turned to look at the dark silhouette, and a small motion was made in response to Shadow's movement.

Shadow couldn't distinguish the other, save for a silhouette and two red glows in the darkness. He walked around some of the rubble to get a better look, but made sure not to leave himself out in the open. Eventually, he walked so far that the stranger had to move his head to keep a lock, and Shadow heard the servomotors that certified that it was a robot.

"So, another of Robotnik's toys."

From the darkness, a stale computerized voice replied. "And you are the pest causing so much trouble."

"Oh, I see Robotnik got tired of not having someone to talk to."

"Very drole."

"I guess you're here to try and stop me, or better yet, to kill me."

"Something along those lines, but I have to say, I may owe you something."

"And what would that be?"

The stranger stepped out of the shadows and into the open. Shadow could now make out the metallic creature, a hedgehog, just like him; no, not like him, like Sonic.

"It's because of you that I even exist. Robotnik was getting most tired of your predecessor; so he started to build his greatest invention, a countermeasure against the one named Sonic."

{It would seem that Void wasn't alone in that particular venture.}

"But several months ago, Sonic was killed. At that point, Robotnik had put my development on hold, he wasn't sure weither to bother with completing me or not. Perhaps it would have been fun to send me against the others. Then you showed up. In a way, I owe you my very existence, but still, I'm going to destroy you anyway."

"I am uncertain if a robot could understand the whole irony of this situation, but it would seem that we have much in common. Now meeting alternate goals when our original quarry was taken from us. I came here seeking to do what you were originally designed for, our futures both thrown into disarray on his death, and now we stand here, ready to battle. How utterly contrived is this? Like some two-bit hack needed a vile reason to extend a drearily ostentatious serial."

Shadow couldn't help but laugh at the situation.

"So be it! Come for me robot, be it one copy or another that survives this battle, it is all equally stupid. But first, what is the name of my new doppelganger?"

"I am 'Metal Sonic', and I will crush you."

"Well, 'Sonic', it appears I will have my rematch after all."

* * *

"Why in Mobius did I give him the ability to talk, or a personality for that matter?"

Dr. Robotnik screamed at the communicator.

"Just shut up and destroy that black freak!"

* * *

Back in the lab, Metal Sonic heard the loud order from his creator and finally acted on it. From his shoes and back, several small rocket boosters extended and fired, propelling the metal hedgehog towards Shadow.

Shadow jumped to one side, then fired his Chaos Spear at the menace. Metal Sonic shifted to avoid the beam of light, and responded with a barrage of small missiles, launched from his chest plate. Shadow jolted, and the missiles hit the wall behind him; debris and dust flew from the hole in the wall. Though there was a fair bit of damage, the hole only broke though this side of the wall.

Taking a few steps to build up some steam, Shadow charged Sonic, and then leapt at him, curling up into a spiny ball. Metal Sonic's boosters fired and he aimed for the oncoming projectile. He also leapt up, and spun himself into a tight metal sphere with sharp spines all over the outer shell.

In the air, the two smashed into each other with a blaze of sparks. Sonic returned to the ground while his weight had propelled Shadow to the high wall; the latter started to run along the wall. Metal turned to watch him trace along the wall, then fired his rockets to fly up to the black menace.

Shadow pulled a quick U-turn on the wall to dupe the assault, and jumped out inside another spin attack. Sonic also tore into his spin attack and the two deflected of each other again. In mid-air, Shadow pulled out of his spin attack, and fired of his Chaos Spear. Metal Sonic stopped and turned, then fired a barrage of missiles at the oncoming beam. Most of the missiles where destroyed when they hit the beam; but two avoided, and kept going towards Shadow. By the time they got to him, Shadow had already fallen to the ground and the attack passed well overhead. The missiles hit the wall, creating another gap in the steel enclosure, sending more scrap to the floor.

Shadow fired another Chaos Spear at Sonic. The robotic hedgehog simply jumped over it and charged the flesh hedgehog. Shadow also jumped away. Metal Sonic turned and fired another barrage of missiles, which Shadow shifted to one side to avoid as well.

Shadow stood and glanced quickly around the room to get his bearings, studying the full layout, plotting an attack. Just behind him, he saw the decimated remains of the ballerina robot.

{No, there's been enough done here. You should rest in peace.}

He continued to scan the room and noticed one of the doors was now open.

"As much as I would love to stay here and chat, I've got places to go; and I've had enough of the place, frankly."

Shadow ran to the door and into the corridor, Metal Sonic followed.

* * *

Through the hallways and corridors of the mighty spire, a white streak cascaded down long straightaways and tight corners. At each bend, it was followed by a loud rocket blast, carrying a steel shadow of the former.

Metal Sonic kept on Shadow's tail without giving him an extra inch of distance. Every time the path turned to a straightaway Sonic would fire a barrage of missiles at Shadow, who would perform a few quick steps to avoid them and the blasts; on occasion, he would resort to a corkscrew around the walls and ceiling, just to show off.

"It'll take more than a tin can to best me!"

Shadow took the next turn with out missing a beat; a second later, Sonic came around the bend, and quickly hit the wall as Shadow fired his Chaos Spear at him. Though the energy beam missed, before Sonic could remove himself from the wall, Shadow ran past, planting his foot on the robot's face.

"So, we're both copied from the same source. I guess we know who's the bad copy, huh?"

Sonic tore out of the wall, and looked upon his opposition that stood before him, taunting him. Ramming his booster rockets to full power, the machine lunged forward, charging straight for the black and white mockery of his muse. Just as he reached his target, Shadow phased out and appeared behind the metal monster.

"I think you missed."

Metal Sonic turned around to see Shadow skipping backwards towards the bend in the corridor. Swinging his arms wide open, Metal released another barrage of missiles at Shadow. With a huge grimace on his face, Shadow phased out of the way down the turn and let the missiles slam into the wall where Sonic had previously crashed into.

* * *

An explosion rocked the outside of the tower, and when the smoke cleared, a gaping hole was left in its place. Shadow jumped out and started to run on the side of the structure, and Metal Sonic followed suit, flying behind him. Out in the open, Sonic had a clear shot for his missile barrages, but they were all useless as Shadow dodged every one.

Shadow would soon have more to worry about. Robotnik had seen that he was outside, and ordered every flier in the area to home in on Shadow and attack. His speed was far too much for most of the robots to keep up, but for those that could, they were giving the hedgehog a major pain in the butt. Shadow dodged their attacks, but was definitely feeling the heat.

Shadow took a sharp turn, heading straight down; most of the robots flew past, but Sonic took the curve easily. In front of him, several fliers were already there, firing lasers and missiles at Shadow. Shifting from side to side, Shadow dodged it all and fired his Chaos Spear in a wide swath, cleaving all the oncoming robots in half. With the horde gone, Shadow turned to run along the side of the building again, this time in the opposite direction of before.

More robots were locking onto his position, and Shadow charged forward, spin attacking and blasting robots with his Chaos Spear, the whole sky above Robotropolis was ablaze in fire.

Shadow continued his high stepping rampage, destroying all who would dare to challenge him, tearing apart robots left, right and center. All the while, he left one free of his tyrannical devastation; and soon, all that would remain would be Shadow and his quarry.

* * *

Shadow stood on a projection from the main tower, a docking bay for any large vessels. He stood quietly, looking out to the sky; before him was the one he selected. Metal Sonic floated in the air with the aid of his rockets.

The two didn't move, simply holding position, almost in admiration of each other. Their eyes were locked on each other, waiting for the other to flinch. Shadow didn't give any indication to Sonic of breaking the current stare down; but slowly, he rolled his eyes up and looked towards the top of the tower. It was covered in was appeared to be smooth and very solid steel, but the very top gave way to a large wire frame structure. Stretching more than 50 metres into the sky, the very top of the tower was a large antenna, very straight and very alluring a target.

Metal Sonic had also gazed up to the tower's transmission antenna. He turned his head back to Shadow, who had also resumed his stare towards him.

"Race ya."

Shadow made a break for the top of the tower, and Sonic followed suit.

* * *

From outside the edge of Robotropolis, Rouge was hiding in a tree. Rouge had been watching the huge firefight outside the tower through a small telescope. It was hard to pick out anything through the fiery smoke hovering over the city, but now all the robots were wiped out and the sky was clearing up. Now there were two trails circling up the central tower; one a bright white streak, the other a smoke trail.

The white one was definitely Shadow, she was sure of it; but the other looked very strange, a metal hedgehog. The two weren't fighting, just rocketing upwards.

"What the Hell is going on over there? A race?"

* * *

Shadow and Metal Sonic continued the race up the tower and up the antenna at the top, but Shadow stopped halfway up and turned into his saw, cutting at the broadcast spire.

Metal Sonic reached the very tip of the top of the tower, then looked to see that Shadow did not follow him up there. He turned his head down to see the hedgehog gripping the sides of the framework.

"It looks like you've won, so here's your prize!"

With perfect form, Shadow lunged the antenna caber-style straight up into the metal copy, impaling him right through his steel stomach. Sparks flew out from the holes in Metal Sonic's front and back before chutes of red flame poured in both directions. An irritating metal scream came with the explosive end of Metal Sonic.

"I've had enough of your silly games, doctor. I hope you're ready, cause I'm coming for you next."

* * *

"Oh, but I _am_ ready, hedgehog."

To be continued


	32. Chapter 6: Face to Face?

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 6: Face to Face?**_

Shadow once again found himself in the corridors of Robotropolis' main tower, probing his way to the top of the tower. He soon reached a large set of double doors, and entered.

* * *

Inside was another large room, even larger than the lab down below. The room was lined with various computer screens and equipment, and at the center was a large steel column that ended at a large steel observation platform just below the ceiling, which was cordoned off by glass windows around the perimeter. Other than that, the entire room was vacant.

"You have caused me much trouble, hedgehog."

Shadow looked up to see a strange man looking at him from the windows on the platform.

"I seem to have a knack for doing that."

Around the room, display panels of every conceivable shape and size illuminated with the picture of the terror from above. For the first time, Shadow had actually seen what this tyrant looked like.

"And I trust that your trip here was unpleasant."

Shadow didn't bother looking at the screens and kept his eyes locked on the platform. "Please, if you really wanted to ruin my day you would have locked me in a room for a few hours with some decade old magazines."

Robotnik chuckled. "Ah, you have a sense of humor. It's rather refreshing considering the lack of any stimulating conversation around here."

"Aw, don't you like your toys anymore?"

"Even favourite toys eventually grow boring, so I have to create new ones, like this."

The room started to shake, just a little bit. At the center of the room, the large column started to sink into the floor, but the platform didn't go with it; instead, the cover revealed that the platform itself was a giant robot, or more specifically, a giant flying gun battery. It was huge, a round steel egg shaped vessel with large 70mm gun turrets mounted everywhere, and a dozen rockets underneath to keep it aloft.

"Behold, my greatest weapon in the war against _you_, the Egg Blaster!"

{The 'Egg Blaster'? Oh brother.}

Shadow was impressed by the size of the thing, but ultimately wasn't going to let it get to him. "Do you think this will scare me?! Your petty pop guns are nothing!"

"I've noticed. You seem to be able to outrun anything, even bullets; not even Sonic could do that. But what if you _couldn't_ run."

Shadow wondered what the madman meant, until he felt the floor shaking. He leapt to his left as the panel he was standing on collapsed. It slid down the curved wall and crashed to a floor covered in large grinding blades that tore up the steel like a paper shredder.

"Watch your step, hedgehog; that first one's a doozy."

"Where'd you get that line, Saturday morning cartoons?"

"I was too busy planning my ultimate takeover of the world to bother with kiddie stuff like that."

"It's no wonder you're a nutcase."

Shadow shook again as the panel he was standing on was also letting go. A quick jump got Shadow to safe ground again while the panel fell to its doom.

Robotnik's voice again echoed through the room. "You may be powerful, but did you really think you could defeat me?"

"Did you think that your parlour tricks could beat me?!"

Shadow's question was answered with another shift at is feet. Another jump was required to get off the platform, but Robotnik taunted him more, firing one of the huge 70mm cannons at his new position. Shadow just managed to duck to avoid the hot lead projectile that slammed into the floor, putting a good dent in it and dislodging another panel.

The dark one was not to take this lying down, and fired his Chaos Spear at the gun that tried to perforate his hide. The beam reached the barrel, but reflected off.

{Just great; powerful and heavily armored to boot.}

Shadow jumped again as his panel was coming loose; but also, several panels within a few metres were also shaking. One right next to his foot plunged into the abyss. Realizing that he definitely wasn't safe just standing there, Shadow make a break for Robotnik's flying death trap. Running across the quickly disintegrating floor, Shadow made several moves left and right, looking for plates that were still partially stable, and avoiding Robotnik's barrage of cannon fire.

Once he was close enough, Shadow jumped into the air, aiming for a spot on the hull between the guns that were shooting at him, and the rockets holding the blasted thing up. Shadow curled into his spin attack and started to saw his way into the dense armor, but it was far to thick to do anything more than scratch the paint.

The black hedgehog continued to assail the massive ship, scratching a path over and around the hull. Eventually running out of steam, Shadow released his attack and landed on one of the guns. Looking up, he decided that there would only be one way in, through the top, right where Robotnik was waiting.

The doctor was not waiting idly in his perch, and was forcing the controls of his machine. The large egg started to move about the room, spinning wildly, swaying in every direction, hoping to shake the gnat off it. Shadow took his time, not wanting to fall off at this point, and took each jump in stride. Leaping from barrel to barrel, slowly making his way to the top.

As Shadow landed on the next barrel, Robotnik fired it, causing the whole gun to shake under Shadow's feet. The hedgehog almost lost his footing, and took a minute to regain his balance before continuing up the structure. Soon, Shadow was within range of the top and jumped up to the glass that separated Robotnik from the battlefield.

Robotnik looked at the hedgehog with a fright Shadow charged the glass with his spin attack, but the transparent barrier held up as well as the steel hull. Pushed back a bit, Shadow fired his Chaos Spear at the glass, but it too was deflected.

"If you thought that this was ordinary glass, you've got another thing coming."

Robotnik pushed a few buttons on his console, signalling another volley of gunfire at Shadow. The black one saw it, and fired another Chaos Spear down to block the shells; the resulting explosion knocked Shadow back to the ground, several metres below.

Shadow hit the floor with a thud, but the floor fell out from under the impact. Leaping up, Shadow returned to the floor that continued to crumble. More than half of the area had collapsed to the pit below, but now Shadow could see some of the supports of the floor. Although most of the floor panels were over open air, there were some evenly spaced panels that were supported by long steel pillars.

To his left was a single platform in the open, supported on one of the long pillars. Shadow jumped off the unstable plates he was originally standing on to that lone plate. But before he reached it, the platform started to fall, being forced down by the column. Shadow almost overshot the plateau as it descended and had to grip the edge of the square.

Shadow pulled himself up to the moving platform and looked around. Most of the floor was now gone, reduced to a set of single panels held up by long pistons at even intervals. Robotnik was hovering in his Egg Blaster and fired at the small square that Shadow was standing on.

The hedgehog jumped to the next platform, but like the last, it started to move while he was in mid-air; only this one went up, not down. Shadow missed the top of the platform and hit the pillar below it. In a quick and dirty manoeuvre, Shadow leapt off the pillar and headed towards another platform diagonal to this one. That platform also moved up, but Shadow was able to grab the edge.

Shadow pulled himself up to the platform.

"So, how does it feel to know that you'll be finished off by the world's greatest genius?"

Shadow mumbled to himself. "Not half as embarrassing as being finished off by the world's biggest loudmouth."

Standing up, Shadow called to taunt Robotnik. "You know, this machine has a lot in common with you; it's loud, fat and ugly!"

Shadow's remark was met with cannon fire. He jumped across the way to another platform, but almost fell off the other side as it descended and ascended almost randomly.

"Say your prayers, hedgehog."

"I've only got one prayer for you."

Shadow stood on the rising square and beckoned Robotnik in the voice of an erupting volcano.

"YOU BETTER BELIEEEEVE YOU'RE GONNA DIIIIEEE!!!"

Shadow leapt to another platform, this time altering his trajectory to land down on the next platform, so that it would not matter if it was rising or falling, he would still land on it. Robotnik fired at Shadow as he took the high arc, but most of the large shots simply missed, while one that almost hit was stopped dead by Shadow's Chaos Spear.

Shadow jumped to another platform to get even closer to the battleship. Robotnik tried to blast Shadow out of the air again, but also shot at the platform just as Shadow reached it. The impact ruptured the platform, leaving it as a warped and crumpled mass of metal; but somehow, Shadow held fast to the floor despite the blast and the decimated plate.

Shadow jumped to a platform to his left, and them to another platform in front, a very high platform, almost halfway up the side of the Egg Blaster, almost beckoning him to use it as a launch site for his attack against Robotnik.

Shadow stood on the platform as it rose, and fired his Chaos Spear up to the cockpit, which reflected of the glass as always. Pushing a button Robotnik commanded another cannon to fire at him, the large shell hurting his way. But Shadow didn't avoid, he wanted it to come to him. When it got close, Shadow leapt back like a professional wide receiver to match his motion to the oversized bullet, and then plucked it out of the air.

The charge carried Shadow to the far wall, which he jumped off towards another platform, timing it so he'd run out of momentum right over it instead of aiming for the platform itself. Shadow made a perfect landing and spun the shell basketball style on his finger.

"Nice shootin', Tex."

Robotnik was not pleased and pressed more buttons to trigger more shots at the hedgehog. Shadow jumped to a nearby platform, also making sure to come down on the platform in a high arc. Robotnik tried to fire at him in mid-air, but a Chaos Spear or two deflected any oncoming attack. Shadow jumped over a few more platforms, closing in on Robotnik's flying menace.

Once he was close enough, Shadow tucked the shell under his arm like a football, and charged Robotnik. Shadow lunged at one of the main guns. Robotnik fired the cannon at point blank range while Shadow tossed the shell right down the barrel.

The two projectiles impacted inside the barrel, one powered by Chaos energy, the other by gunpowder; the explosion ruptured the whole gun, leaving it a charred mass.

Shadow was also knocked back a bit by the explosion, but shook it off and inspected the damage. The gun was totally ruined, while the armor plating around it was also showing wear. Leaping back at the impact point, Shadow tore into his spin attack and started to tear through the steel plating. With a few seconds of pressure, he bore a hole big enough to get through, and landed inside on a large structural support beam.

"Oh no, he's inside my machine!"

Inside the structure, Shadow got a bead on the inner workings of the war machine, then jumped into the mechanics, launching into his spin attack and ramming into whatever looked vulnerable, and potentially critical.

Up above, Robotnik could feel the tremors through the floor plates for every part Shadow crushed. After some amount of damage, one of the jet engines underneath gave out, and the whole vehicle listed to one side. The mad doctor couldn't maintain his balance and rolled along the platform to one side.

Slowly, the whole ship was falling into the shredders in the floor of the chamber, crushing any of the small platforms in the way. When it hit the grinding screws and saws, the whole bottom of the vessel warped under the strain; the various destructive components of the floor chugged and snapped under the overly large meal. The hideous squeal of metal being shorn apart would have driven anyone within earshot cowering.

The panels in front of Robotnik were flashing yellow and red warnings of one malfunction or another.

"I've got to get out of here!"

From up through the floor of the cockpit, Shadow tore through like it was paper. Robotnik turned to see the hedgehog, encompassed in a bright white flare, leaping through the hole and up to his eye level. At first, Shadow was almost back on; but slowly he spun around, and Robotnik could see the hedgehog very close up. For a brief instance, it was the most amazing thing Robotnik ever saw; but when he looked into his eyes, those burning, raging, hellfire orbs, it was as if the devil himself was staring him down.

It seemed to be that time froze, that movement was impossible, and the air weighed down on his puny body like it was made solid. Only the increasing glow from Shadow told Robotnik that time moved at all. And then…

"CHAOS BLOSSOM!!!"

* * *

Outside Robotnik's flying menace, the cockpit exploded in a bright flash.

To be continued


	33. Chapter 7: The End

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

_**Chapter 7: The End**_

Dazed, Robotnik's eyes slowly opened. His head was hurting like a large steel box had been sitting on his round skull. As his vision returned, he could see the demonic form of the black and white hedgehog standing on his belly.

"Finally awake, are you?"

"You!" Robotnik tried to get up and knock Shadow off him, but it seemed as if the hedgehog had gained an insane amount of weight and couldn't be moved from his position.

"Don't even bother; you've lost, doctor. There's no way you could ever stand against my power."

"Yes, you do have a lot of power."

"More than you could ever know."

"The power of the Master Emerald is truly great; I can see why you want it."

"I need it to put an end to you."

"Then why haven't you used it? You could have easily destroyed me with all that power, but you faced me hand to machine, saving it. Where you saving it so you could crush me in one last glorious fury, or to humiliate me by showing me how weak I am to fall to a normal hedgehog without the aid of such power?" Robotnik cast and evil grin. "Or maybe, you're just like me."

Shadow was insulted. "Like you? Preposterous!"

"You thirst for power, just like me. I wanted to rule this planet. I wanted the power to control everything and everyone. I wanted the power of a god. And now, you have achieved what I could not. You didn't attack with it because you want to keep all that power for yourself."

"You speak of greed, doctor, to desire something solely for the purpose of possession. But I have another desire. I didn't keep this power at bay for domination; I did plan to use it to defeat you, and that's exactly what I _am_ going to do with it. If I had used it to destroy you, then yes, I would be just like you. You used power to hurt, to destroy, to kill! No, I couldn't be like you, I had to use my power for something greater, so I'm going to heal, and to repair the damage you've unleashed."

"You claim you can unmake all that I've done, can you raise the dead too?"

"No, all power has limits, for unlike you said, I am not a god. But I can do what I can."

Shadow took a step closer and grabbed Dr. Robotnik's collar with his left hand.

"And so dear doctor, with my fists, I will _finish_ you. And with my power, I will _end_ you!"

The enraged creature balled his right fist and pulled it back.

"Give my regards to Sonic!"

The last things Robotnik saw were Shadow's knuckles…

then redness…

then blackness…

then nothing…

* * *

Outside Robotropolis, Rouge was hiding in the treetops, spying on the steel city.

"What's he doing in there? With all that power, he should've been able to wipe out Robotnik in one swoop. What's keeping him?"

Rouge got her answer when she noticed a green glow coming from the center of Robotnik's empire. The glow soon exploded in a blaze of neon green, covering the whole city and expanding into the outer edge of the forest.

"I'm too beautiful to die!"

Rouge clamped onto the other side of the tree and braced for the oncoming flame. The green glow encompassed the tree with her in it. Rouge didn't feel the pain that she was expecting, it was more like a sunny Summer day just snatched her in a warm hug. But while she was in peaceful bliss, before her sounds of destruction tore through the city, loud screeches of torn metal, sharp tinkles of shattered glass, and the most horrible buzzing noise that had ever existed.

All the bat could do was grip tightly to the tree trunk, knowing that she was safe where she was.

* * *

After a minute, it was all over; the warmth and the noise had faded away. Content that it was safe to leave the protection of the tree, Rouge released her lock on the bark and looked towards Robotropolis. Expecting to see a huge crater, Rouge was shocked to see what lay before her. The whole area was in ruin, but not the ruins that she was imagining. There was nary a trace of steel or pollution or broken robots, but the ruins of a city of stone. Strange blocks of marble tainted a dreary purple, and tangled in long overgrown vines laid out before her in what would have been a great paradise in its heyday.

Fumbling around her pockets, Rouge pulled out a small phone and turned it on.

"Sally, you have got to come and see this."

* * *

Shortly after, Sally and a group from Knothole arrived to survey what was once Robotropolis, but what they saw was beyond their wildest dreams. Robotropolis was gone, instead replaced by stone ruins that Sally recognized immediately. Shadow had gone to defeat Robotnik, and had returned to the people of this land their lost home, Mobotropolis.

The city of marble was in chaos; but to Sally, it was the most beautiful thing she had seen in years. She felt like a little child, and wanted to run around and discover the whole city all over again. But there would be time for that later. Someone had found another amazing thing; lying in the middle of the road was an unconscious badger, sleeping like there was nothing wrong.

Geoffrey led a few people to check on the slumbering vagabond. "Where did he come from? He must have been roboticized, and restored when Mobotropolis was restored."

He poked the badger a few times. "Hey! Wake up!"

The badger snorted and started to get up.

"Check around, see if there are anymore." The others ran off looking for more of Dr. Robotnik's victims.

Bunnie was right next to Sally. "This place is definitely a fixer-upper."

"Yeah, but it's home! Shadow gave us back our home!" A bit of sadness crossed the princess' face. "Where's Shadow?"

* * *

Elsewhere, someone else had already been looking. Deep within the ruined castle, a large block of marble suddenly exploded to gravel and dust.

"Do you think you can find him?" spoke a female voice in the background.

"He absorbed the Master Emerald, even if he used up it's power, I can still find him; dead or alive."

Knuckles continued to break through the blocks of the castle, until he came to the place of the final battle. There resting on a slanted block of pink was the target of Knuckles' and Tikal's search. Knuckles moved to the side of the unconscious hedgehog and poked him. Not getting a response, he gave Shadow a quick kick to the side.

"Wake up!"

Shadow was brought back to the real world. After a second to regain his bearings he looked up at the echidna. "So, you've come to finish me off."

"I'll save it for when you're healthy."

"Well, in that case I'm going to check myself into a hospital and never come out."

Knuckles helped Shadow to his feet.

Tikal brushed some of the dust off him, and noticed that the white fringe had returned to its original red color. "How do you feel?"

"I feel mortal again."

"Shadow!"

The black hedgehog looked up to see Rouge coming down on top of him. On contact, Rouge clamped her arms around him, and planted a big juicy one right on Shadow's lips. It would be a few seconds before Rouge relinquished Shadow's face.

"I thought I had lost you! Are you alright?"

"That depends on if that was a kiss or if you were trying to suffocate me."

"Well, maybe you need another taste to figure it out."

This time, Rouge went in softly and delicately, giving him a sensual and passionate kiss even more intense than the first, with a bit of French flair for effect.

Down below the rubble, Sally saw Shadow in the embrace of the bat woman. She pictured herself in Rouge's place then with Sonic in Shadow's, and sighed.

Beside her, Bunnie was not at all pleased. "I'm gonna kill that low bred hussy!"

* * *

Several weeks later, peace had slowly returned to the Great Forest surrounding Mobotropolis. Robots no longer marched over the landscape, the rivers were becoming cleaner as the toxins that once tainted them were wiped out at the source, and the air was also no longer congested by smog. The paradise that many thought was gone forever was returning.

Mobotropolis' renewal would take some time more. The castle was in total ruin, but around the perimeter, houses of various shapes and sizes had sprung up. Larger buildings in various states of construction accompanied them. A proper hospital was the first priority and was nearly complete, followed by a school, a town hall, and even a shopping center; neither of which would be ready for a couple of months. There were still a lot of gaps, but there were plans for parks, fountains, walkways and other recreational structures.

The citizens continued to work at rebuilding their former home. Sally had taken her job as princess very seriously, and was heavily involved in the planning of the rebuilt Mobotropolis. It was only partially because of her duty however; during the fight with Robotnik, she had lost someone very special to her, someone that was too hard to simply let go. Work was the only thing that could keep her occupied.

Sally decided that the castle would be the last thing to be constructed, as she knew it would take years to complete, and everyone needed a place to live first. She had organized scavenging parties to collect food and water from the forest and rivers that were far enough away to not have been affected by Robotropolis' toxic waste. As the lands and waters purified, they would move closer and their work would be less arduous. Eventually farms would be built in the surrounding areas, and water could be gathered directly from the great river that ran behind the castle.

Rotor had created teams to rebuild the structures that supplied water and electricity throughout the city. The sewers, pipes and wires were still intact for the most part, but did require some maintenance. The facilities that actually drew water and created power were not in such good shape and would require more time to complete. The former citizens of Knothole had gotten used to roughing it in the forest, so the lack of these luxuries was not noticed.

Geoffrey had rounded together his troops to help rebuild the city, as there was little need for guards and warriors in this time of renewed hope. Tails and Amy had also taken to their tasks, which were decidedly less taxing than most of the others. They were mostly involved in passing messages, distributing meals and other smaller errands.

Some of the echidnas from the floating island had also come to Mobotropolis, although many stayed to rebuild their homes on the formerly flying mass. Knuckles had considered his duties complete; though he also considered it a failure to have lost the Master Emerald, at least it was for a good cause. He moved to Mobotropolis with Tikal, and later they had married, something no echidna had done in over a century.

Shadow was also busy during the reconstruction, although his abilities were far less useful in construction than in battle. Being the hero that he was, it was decided that part of his reward would be a rather large, spacious house overlooking the river. Even though he considered it rather overkill, he still accepted it graciously; especially after two people moved in with him.

Rouge had continued her mission to collect Power Rings until the power station was finished. Naturally, she wasn't going to stay in a dump like this without the love of her life, so she moved in with Shadow; and although both certainly seemed well rested every morning, most nights were anything but silent.

Bunnie's skills in the field were becoming useful in tilling the land for new farms, and the young rabbit was later put in charge of the crops; in a few months, there would be enough to feed the whole city. She had also moved in with Shadow and Rouge, although her motives were not quite what either had really thought. She wanted Shadow for herself, and had moved in to watch over the pair, secretly hoping that Rouge might slip up and she could take him from her. Unfortunately for the rabbit, Rouge was quite the experienced seductress and rarely made such errors.

* * *

During the clean up of the castle, a strange discovery was made; the robot ballerina had been found, badly damaged. Rotor had determined that it actually was just a robot, and not a person that had been roboticized. There was a heated debate to decide what to do with the mechanical dancer.

Some wanted it scrapped, as it was a dim reminder of what Robotnik had brought onto them, but some had resisted. One in particular argued that what happened with Robotnik was in the past, and to cover it up did no justice to anyone. The robot was something of beauty, possibly the only beautiful thing that Dr. Robotnik was known to have created. It was decided that it would be repaired and allowed to dance, but it lacked something, a name. Rouge had offered what was considered a great choice, but only really understood by a few.

And so, Maria would dance forever…

* * *

Knothole was quiet now; there was little going on there as everyone had moved to Mobotropolis. Instead it had been turned into a memorial and cemetery for all who fell fighting Robotnik.

The simple wooden monuments had been replaced with proper headstones of solid rock with carefully etched names and phrases. In the middle, stood a strange stone in the shape of a large, half-buried circular saw.

_Here lies Sonic the Hedgehog._

_At one time our greatest hope in the face of darkness,  
but he fell in battle against our oppressor.  
In his sacrifice, he saved one soul,  
and we all thank him.  
Our hero._

END


End file.
